Hyundai-Kia’s combined sales top 8 million in 2014

The combined annual sales of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors topped the 8 million mark last year. Renault Samsung Motors saw its annual sales jump nearly 30 percent. GM Korea and Ssangyong Motor performed fairly well in the domestic market, but struggled nonetheless due to plunging overseas shipment.

Hyundai Motor posted total sales of 4,963,456 units, including 685,191 sold in the domestic market and 4,278,265 sold overseas last year. The combined figure represents up 4.9 percent from 2013. Its Avante (El Lantra) compact sedan was the most popular the overseas market, with 928,438 units sold. In the domestic market, the LF Sonata mid-size sedan had 108,014 cars sold, becoming the bestseller model in the domestic market for the first time in four years.

Kia Motors sold 465,200 units in Korea, and 2,576,496 overseas, surpassing 3 million (3,041,696) for the first time ever. The automaker saw the sales of its recreational vehicles, including the Sportage R compact SUV, the Sorento mid-size SUV, and the Carnival (known as the Sedona in the U.S. market) minivan, jump 16.6 percent.

GM Korea`s sales plunged by 19.2 percent year-on-year to 630,532 last year, which was affected by the withdrawal of the Chevrolet brand manufactured in Europe. But its sales in the domestic market hit all time high since 2002 when the company was launched.

Renault Samsung Motors sold 169,854 cars, up 29.6 percent year-on-year, thanks to the popularity of its QM3 SUV and the Rogue SUV to the North American market.

Ssangyong Motor`s sales decreased by 3.2 percent to 141,047 units. The company’s domestic sales were the largest ever since 2005, but its shipment to Russia dropped due to the slumping Ruble currency.