Hyundai-Kia regain market share in three months

Domestic market share of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors has turned up in three months.

The domestic market share in October increased by 1.3-percentage point from September to 68.6 percent, the Hyundai Automotive Group said on Friday.

The nation`s two largest automakers` market share decreased for two consecutive months, posting 69.7 percent in July, 68.4 percent in August and 67.3 percent in September.

Hyundai’ market share surged to 41.9 percent in October from 37.2 percent in September, while Kia`s share fell from 30.1 percent in September to 26.7 percent in October. Industry watchers say that Hyundai’s sales of full-size sedans including the Genesis and the Grandeur increased but Kia suffered a lack of new car effect in its new-model SUVs Carnival and Sorento due to labor strikes.

As of October, Hyundai and Kia have racked up an accumulated market share of 69.4 percent this year. In the 2000s, the annual market share of Hyundai-Kia group peaked at 77.1 percent in 2009 and is on a gradual decline at 75.0 percent in 2011; 74.9 percent in 2012; 71.8 percent in 2013. It is remarkable that the auto group will maintain its market share of a 70 percent level.