South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor beat its Japanese rival Toyota to become the world’s largest fuel cell electric vehicle maker in the first half of the year with the release of a face-lifted model, industry data showed.

Hyundai Motor, the maker of the NEXO SUV, sold about 4,700 units in the January-June period, up 62.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from SNE Research.

Toyota’s fuel cell electric vehicle sales skyrocketed 735.1 percent on-year to 3,700 units in the first six months of the year to post a 40.9 percent market share, led by solid demand for its second-generation Mirai model.

Japanese automaker Honda was in third place with 1.6 percent of the market. (Yonhap)