Sales of hybrid cars more than doubled last month in South Korea on the back of the popularity of new compact sports utility vehicle Niro produced by Kia Motors Corp., industry data showed Sunday.

A total of 6,215 units of Korean-made hybrid cars were sold in June, up 140 percent from 2,617 a month earlier, according to the data.


The June figure marked a monthly sales record, outnumbering the previous record of 6,061 units tallied in April.

Kia Motors' Niro is spearheading the popularity, with 3,246 units sold last month, taking up 52 percent of the total hybrid sales.

Hyundai Motor Co.'s full-size Grandeur hybrid came in second with 1,055 units sold, followed by sales of the company's Sonata and Ionic hybrid models hitting 766 and 630, respectively.

Arriving at local showrooms in April, Niro is Kia's first hybrid SUV whose production is based on its own dedicated platform that does not borrow from existing models.

The country's second-largest carmaker said it intends to appeal to fuel-conscious consumers to overcome sluggish sales for new cars at home and abroad.

Insiders expect the number of hybrid car sales to reach 50,000 units by the end of 2016, far outpacing the previous year's sales of 29,145 units. (Yonhap)