Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automaker, said Monday that its U.S. sales reached an all-time high in 2014 despite lingering worries over slowing global economic recovery and intensifying competition from Japanese rivals supported by the weak yen.

Hyundai Motor America (HMA) and Kia Motors America (KMA), the distribution and marketing arms of the group's flagship companies, said that they sold 725,718 cars and 580,234 vehicles last year, up 0.7 percent and 8.4 percent from a year earlier.

Their combined sales came to 1,305,952 units last year, exceeding the previous record set by the two leading Korean carmakers in 2012 when their sales totaled 1,260,606. This also marked the fourth straight year that the sales figures topped 1 million.

Hyundai Motor's sales in the U.S. were driven in part by the Santa Fe and Tucson sport utility vehicles whose sales jumped 21.5 percent and 13 percent to 107,906 and 47,306, respectively.

Kia Motors' annual sales in the U.S. also represented its largest ever. In particular, it sold 159,020 units of the Optima, known in Korea as the K5, last year, to make it its best-selling car in the U.S. for three straight years.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, however, did not make headway in terms of market share. Kia Motors' market share edged up from 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent but Hyundai Motor saw its market share decline from 4.6 percent to 4.4 percent.

The sales figures came amid unfavorable market conditions including intensifying competition from Japanese rivals boosted by the weak yen and worries over the slowing global economic recovery.

Supported by the weak yen, sales of Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. reached annual highs. Nissan sold about 1.39 million cars last year in the U.S., up 11.1 percent from a year earlier, while Honda saw its sales grow 1 percent on-year to 1.37 million. (Yonhap)