Hyundai, Kia on track to rank 4th in green car sales: data

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. are on track to rank fourth in the world in sales of environmentally friendly vehicles for 2015 as they seek to expand their green car lineup in the years to come, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold a total of 73,746 environmentally friendly cars last year that include hybrid, electric fuel-cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The figures are at an all-time high, and based on the January-November sales data available for major automakers, Hyundai and Kia ranked fourth following Toyota, Honda and Renault-Nissan, a notch higher than the previous year.

The two South Korean carmakers are ramping up efforts to expand their green car lineup. Recently, Hyundai Motor started to sell the Ioniq hybrid, the first electric car model produced from its own platform, hoping that it could compete with the market leader Prius of Toyota.

Hyundai and Kia plan to develop a total of 26 environmentally friendly vehicles until 2020, with an aim to raise their sales ratio from the current 2 percent to 10 percent.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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