Hyundai Motor Group's green car sales top 1 mln

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Group's cumulative sales of eco-friendly vehicles surpassed the 1 million mark in July, 13 years after its entry into the green-car market, data showed Monday.

The automaking giant said its two carmaking affiliates -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. -- sold a combined 29,484 environmentally-friendly vehicles in July alone, raising their cumulative sales to 1.024 million.

The milestone came after Hyundai Motor Group entered the eco-friendly vehicle market in July 2009 by launching the hybrid model of its Avante subcompact.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's leading automaker, registered cumulative sales of 556,854 units, with Kia taking up the remainder.

Hyundai Motor's Grandeur Hybrid, which debuted in 2013, was the best-selling green car with cumulative sales reaching about 184,000 units.

Kia's Niro hybrid model came next with some 126,500, followed by the Sonata hybrid with about 98,300.

Hyundai Motor Group said its sales of eco-friendly vehicles will likely grow further down the road amid the growing popularity of electric vehicles.

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