SEOUL, KOREA - The sales of Korean-made cars in the United States, where the overall car sales are on an upward trend, picked up in May. Kia Motors announced on June 3 that it sold 60,087 units in the U.S. during the month of May, up 14.8 percent from a year ago.
Kia’s flagship model Optima (K5 in Korea) was sold 16,843 units, up 9.6 percent year on year, while the sales of Soul rose 36.7 percent to 15,606 units. The sales of Sorento also rose 14.9 percent to 10,548 units.
Hyundai Motor also enjoyed a healthy growth in sales in the U.S. last month. It sold 70,907 units there in May, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Sonata and Elantra each was sold 20,404 units and 21,867 units, respectively. Santa Fe, which was sold 7,116 units in May of 2013, was sold 10,638 units in May 2014.
Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors both performed strongly in high-end sedan market. The sales of Genesis, one of Korea’s best-known high-end sedan brands, rose to 3,437 units, thanks to the addition of a new model. Equus was sold 324 units, up 26 percent year on year.
In the meantime, the number of cars sold in the U.S. last month totaled 1.6 million units, up 11.3 percent year on year.