South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Sunday they have posted monthly record sales in China in January helped by the growing popularity of their new models.

Beijing Hyundai Motor Co. and Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motor Co., the South Korean automakers’ China units, sold 163,090 units last month, up 66.4 percent from a year earlier.

The total breaks down to 107,888 units for Beijing Hyundai and 55,202 units for Dongfeng Yueda Kia.

The number outperforms the previous record of 142,987 in November.

The figure for Beijing Hyundai represents the first time that Hyundai Motor, the world’s fifth largest automaker, has recorded monthly sales of 100,000 units in any country.

The Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has attributed the whopping sales jump in China to the growing popularity of the Langdong, Verna and K3.

Hyundai Motor sold 22,177 units of the Langdong subcompact sedan, 25,684 units of the Verna subcompact and 8,427 units of its sports utility vehicle Santa Fe in the world’s biggest auto market last month.

Kia’s K series line-up accounted for more than 60 percent of the company’s January sales in China, with sales of 15,028 units of the K2, Kia’s Rio-based subcompact sedan, 12,741 units of the K3 compact sedan and 5,367 units of the K5 midsize sedan.

The South Korean automotive group aims to sell 1.47 million units in China this year, up more than 10 percent from last year. 

(Yonhap News)