Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their sales in France grow at the second fastest clip among car brands there last year, industry data showed Monday.

The two South Korean carmakers sold a combined 53,114 units in France last year, up 17.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data provided by a local automobile association and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

The on-year growth rate marked the second sharpest following a 19.1 percent gain of Mercedes-Benz. BMW ranked third with 15.3 percent growth.

Hyundai Motor sold 23,968 units last year, up 39.6 percent from a year earlier, thanks to the strong demand for the i20, whose sales shot up 72 percent. Kia Motors' sales also expanded 3.4 percent to 29,146 units over the cited period.

With the brisk sales, the two carmakers' market share in France also inched up 0.2 percentage point on-year to 2.8 percent in 2015, the data showed. (Yonhap)