The share of Korean carmakers in Sweden has rebounded after four years of declines, reaching nearly 8.5 percent, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and Swedish Automobile Association on Wednesday.

Sweden’s total imported vehicle sales market last year was 372,318 units, of which Korean vehicles accounted for 31,532 units, or 8.47 percent.

Sales of Korean car brands in the European nation reached 9.98 percent in 2012, but had been on a steady decline until last year. In 2015, sales of Korean vehicles totaled 26,288 units, accounting for 7.62 percent of the imported car market share.

Making up the bulk of the sales is Kia Motors, which outshined Hyundai Motor models and accounted for 5.85 percent of the Swedish market last year. Hyundai followed with 2.63 percent. Currently, Hyundai and Kia sell a combined 10 models in Sweden.

Coming top in Korean car models in Sweden was Kia’s sporty hatchback, the Cee’d, which sold 6,778 units in Sweden last year. The model was the country’s ninth-best-selling vehicle that year. Kia’s Optima (also known as the K5 in Korea), which was launched in the country last September, went on to sell 1,105 units.

Kia Motors appears to be continuing its expansion in the European market after posting record half-year and quarterly sales in 2016 with 229,585 of the company’s vehicles registered in Europe over the first half of the year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

During the first half of 2016, Kia sold 229,585 units, the best-ever six-month period documented by the Korean brand in Europe. The figure was a 14.8 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year. The Korean automaker’s first-half sales performance accounted for 2.8 percent of the entire European market share, a slight increase compared to 2.7 percent in 2015.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)