Hyundai and Kia said that demand for their Sonata and Optima hybrids in the United States jumped 16.7% on-year in the January-May period to 15,237 units. Thanks to the rise in the sales, their combined market share stood at 7.9% of the low emission car market this year, up from 6.1% in 2013.
By comparison, Toyota's sales fell 13.4% on-year to 122,798 units, with numbers for Ford, which ranked No. 2 in this segment, falling 11.4% to 30,585 vehicles, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported.
Ssangyong Motor Co., a local unit of Indian sport utility vehicle (SUV) maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said it sold 11,780 units, excluding complete knockdown kits, down 7.85 from a year earlier. It said despite weaker numbers, models such as the Korando C were doing well.