Hyundai Motor Co.’s sports compact Veloster outperformed BMW Mini Cooper in the U.S. market for the first time this year in August, the South Korean automaker said Sunday.

According to Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest automaker, the company sold 3,708 units of the Veloster last month, making it the second most popular vehicle of its segment in the U.S. following the Fiat 500, which sold 4,150 units in August.

The Mini Cooper of BMW AG came in third place with 3,688 units sold in August.

This is the first time this year sales of the Veloster overtook those of the Mini Cooper in the U.S. market, according to Hyundai officials.

Hyundai officials said the recent surge in the popularity of the Veloster in the U.S. market was apparently helped by the launch of a new turbo model there last month.

With a new 1.6-liter turbo engine, the latest model generates maximum horsepower of 201, compared with 138 maximum horsepower of its previous model.

The Mini Cooper continues to lead the segment in the U.S. market as of the end of August, with an accumulated sales of 30,289 units in the first eight months of the year. Hyundai’s Veloster has an accumulated sales of 25,318 units with the Italian manufacturer of the Fiat 500 selling 28,566 units of the vehicle in the January-August period. 

(Yonhap News)