Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. made up combined 9.1 percent in the Chinese auto market last month, up 1 percentage point from the previous month thanks to popularity of newly released Lingdong and Tucson models of Hyundai Motor.

According to the auto industry Monday, Hyundai and its sister company sold 146,378 units in April in the world’s largest auto market compared with 146,195 units a year ago. Hyundai Motor accounted for 6.0 percent and Kia Motors 3.1 percent, respectively.

The South Korean motor group commanded the third place in China’s auto market following Volkswagen AG (18.7 percent) and General Motors Corp. (10.2 percent). Japanese carmakers, including Honda Motor Co., (6.1 percent) Toyota Motor Corp. (5.5 percent) and Nissan Motor Co., (5.2 percent) came in the fourth, fifth and sixth trailed by Michigan-based Ford Motor Co. and (3.8 percent) Paris-based automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (3.2 percent).

Hyundai Motor shipped 96,222 units to China in April, 6.7 percent more than 90,189 units in the same month last year, driven by demand for new Lingdong and new Tucson. The new Lingdong, the automaker’s latest version under Avante brand that is exclusively targeted for China, sold 14,665 units last month.

Combined with other Avante brands in China, - Yuedong and Langdong - the automaker sold 35,658 units in the series in April, up 12.7 percent year on year.

The automaker’s crossover utility vehicle (CUV) Tucson’s latest model remains a steady seller since its launch late last year, recording sales of 11,150 units last month, or a total of 17,295 units under Tucson brand in April to gain 105.6 percent from the previous year.

In contrast, its sister company Kia Motors’s shipment to China dropped 10.4 percent to 50,156 units last month from 56,006 units from a year ago.

By Chun Beom-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]