Hyundai, Kia's SUVs hit highest market share in U.S. in 7 yrs in Q1

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's leading carmakers, saw their share of the SUV market in the United States hit a seven-year high in the first quarter, industry data showed Sunday.

According to the data, a combined 155,082 units of SUVs made by Hyundai and Kia were sold in the United States in the January-March period.

Their share in the U.S. SUV market reached 8 percent, marking the highest since 2011, when the figure reached a record 10 percent.

Hyundai's SUVs took up 3.9 percent for the segment, the highest since Hyundai's Santa Fe first hit the U.S. market in 2000.

Sales of Hyundai's midsized Santa Fe and compact crossover Tucson led the increase in the market share as their sales rose 3.4 percent and 0.5 percent on-year in the first quarter, respectively.

Kia's new midsize Telluride SUV, which debuted in the U.S. market in 2019, gained popularity to help its market share increase to 4.1 percent in the first quarter. Some 5,400 units of the Telluride were sold in the three-month period.

The two companies sold a combined 284,181 units in the U.S. in the first quarter, including a record 53.8 percent of SUVs.

brk@yna.co.kr
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