Hyundai, Kia's eco-friendly auto sales on rise: data

SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- Sales of environmentally friendly vehicles sold by Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. have remained robust this year, data showed on Monday, with the ratio of such vehicles exceeding 7 percent of their total sales.

Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 160,082 eco-friendly vehicles in global markets from January to May, accounting for 7.2 percent of their overall sales of 2,238,489 units, the companies' sales data showed.

"The ratio of environment friendly vehicles out of (the carmakers') total sales is on the increase. The ratio is expected to reach 25 percent in 2025," a company spokesman said.

The two carmakers aim to sell 1 million eco-friendly vehicles in 2025.

For the whole of 2019, they sold a total of 368,870 eco-friendly models, accounting for 5.1 percent of their overall sales of 7.19 million autos, the data said.

Eco-friendly models are hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, all-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.

Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, have sold an accumulated 1.54 million eco-friendly models since 2009 through May.

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