(LEAD) Hyundai, Kia's Aug. U.S. sales rise 18 pct despite chip shortage

(ATTN: UPDATES with Genesis sales figures throughout)

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Friday their combined sales in the United States rose 18 percent last month from a year earlier despite the prolonged global chip shortage.

Hyundai, its independent Genesis brand, and Kia sold 135,526 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market in August, up from 115,184 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data.

Hyundai's sales climbed 14 percent to 64,335 units last month from 56,200 a year ago, while Kia's jumped 22 percent to 66,089 from 54,009 during the same period, the data showed.

Genesis' sales rose 2.6 percent to 5,102 from 4,975 during the cited period.

"In light of ongoing supply challenges across the industry, achieving a best-ever August sales performance is a testament to the strength of our product lineup, our dealers and our employees," Eric Watson, vice president in charge of sales operations at Kia America, said.

He expects vehicle production to pick up and boost demand for Kia's all-new Sportage SUV, all-electric EV6 SUV and upcoming redesigned Telluride SUV through the end of this year.

From January to August, the carmakers' sales in the U.S. fell 9.1 percent to 966,684 autos from 1,063,907 during the same period of last year, the data showed.

Hyundai's sales fell 12 percent on-year to 468,833 units in the first eight months, while Kia's declined 8.1 percent to 461,878 from 502,619 during the same period. But Genesis sales jumped 22 percent to 35,973 from 29,453.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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