Hyundai and Kia Motors, South Korea’s top two automotive companies by sales, posted a record-high 995,383 units of newly registered vehicles in Europe last year, industry data showed Thursday.

The combined number of newly registered cars made by the two companies rose 5.8 percent on-year in 2017 to 995,383 units from 940,693 units in the previous year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

Registrations of Kia Motors’ cars jumped 8.5 percent on-year to 472,125 units last year, while the corresponding figure for Hyundai reached 505,377 units, up 3.5 percent. 

The two companies ranked No. 7 in the market, with a combined share of 6.3 percent. Hyundai accounted for 3.3 percent, while Kia made up 3 percent, according to data from the ACEA. They overtook Germany’s Daimler AG by about 3,000 units. Volkswagen Group ranked first with 23.8 percent of newly registered vehicles in Europe.

“In terms of sales, Hyundai and Kia Motors sold over 1 million units in Europe last year largely due to increased demand for sport utility vehicles,” Hyundai said.

Sales of Hyundai’s Tucson compact SUV, the carmaker’s best-selling model in Europe, totaled 153,896 units last year.

Kia sold 131,801 units of the Sportage compact SUV, its top selling model there, the company said. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)