Cumulative electric vehicle (EV) sales in Europe from South Korea's two largest automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. -- have surpassed 200,000 units, company data showed Sunday.

Hyundai and Kia, both under Hyundai Motor Group, had sold a combined 227,919 EVs in the European auto market as of May since they first began selling EVs there in 2014. Hyundai's EV sales reached 131,719 units, while those of Kia totaled 96,200 units.

Their cumulative EV sales in Europe topped 10,000 units in 2017 and surpassed 100,000 units last year.

This year, Hyundai and Kia have sold a combined 43,865 EVs in Europe through May, up 99.5 percent from a year earlier.

Hyundai's Kona EV was the top-selling model in Europe with cumulative sales of 91,302 units, followed by Kia's Niro EV with 58,774 units.

The two automakers expect more EV sales in Europe with the release of their new EVs. Hyundai launched its all-electric IONIQ 5 last month, and Kia will begin selling its EV6 in the second half of the year.

Europe is considered an important EV market for South Korean automakers. Global EV sales last year reached 3.24 million units, and Europe accounted for about 40 percent, according to data from market researcher EV-Volumes.

Hyundai previously vowed to fully electrify its vehicle lineup in major markets, including Europe, the United States and China, by 2040. Kia has targeted selling 308,000 EV units in Europe by 2030.

Hyundai and Kia have also acquired a 20 percent stake in IONITY GmbH, which runs Europe's largest high-power EV charging station network, to expand their EV infrastructure. (Yonhap)