Hyundai, Kia push US sales up 44% in June

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. combined for sales of 140,951 vehicles in the US in June, a 44 percent increase from 98,005 units from a year earlier on robust demand for their SUVs.

Hyundai's sales jumped 45 percent to 72,465 units last month from 50,135 last year, while Kia's increased 43 percent to 68,486 from 47,870 the year before.

Hyundai's Palisade, Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs, and Kia's Telluride, Sportage, and Sorento SUVs experienced strong sales.

Randy Parker, senior vice president at Hyundai Motor America, credited their retail partners for their dedication in delivering Hyundai vehicles with an outstanding consumer experience in gaining more sales.

The companies reported their highest ever first-half sales of 785,646 autos, for this year, up 47 percent from 535,934 during the same period of last year.

Hyundai and Kia are collectively the fifth-biggest carmakers in the world by sales.