Hyundai, Kia’s U.S. sales rise 3.1 pct in January

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their combined sales in the United States rose 3.1 percent last month from a year earlier on strong demand for their SUV models.

Hyundai, Hyundai’s independent Genesis brand, and Hyundai’s affiliate Kia sold a total of 93,998 vehicles in the world’s most important automobile market in January, the companies’ sales data showed.

Hyundai’s U.S. sales rose 10 percent to 47,872 units from 43,394 over the cited period, with the Genesis brand sales jumping 29 percent to 3,638 units. But Kia’s declined 5.5 percent to 42,488 from 44,965.

“High levels of consumer interest across our product lineup resulted in record-breaking January sales even as we continue to navigate through the global pandemic and microchip shortage,” Randy Parker, senior vice president in charge of national sales at Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement.

Robust demand for Hyundai’s Tucson and Palisade SUVs, Genesis’ GV70 and GV80 SUVs, and Kia’s Sportage and Sorento SUVs buoyed the overall monthly sales result, the companies said.

Kia plans to launch the all-electric EV6 sedan and the all-new Sportage SUV in the first half of this year to boost sales.

Hyundai said it will focus on promoting the pure electric IONIQ 5 and SUV models in the U.S. market this year.

This year, Hyundai and Kia aim to sell a combined 7.47 million vehicles in global markets, up 12 percent from their sales of 6.67 million units last year.