South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor’s electric vehicle sales increased in the first half of the year compared with a year ago, but its global market share fell in the face of toughening competitions with Chinese rivals, industry data showed.

Hyundai Motor was in sixth place in terms of global EV sales in the January-June period, one notch down from the fifth position a year ago, according to the data by industry tracker SNE Research.

The automaker’s global EV sales jumped 75.6 percent on-year to 51,300 units in the first six months of the year, but its market share fell to 2.9 percent from 4.5 percent over the period, data showed.

Tesla topped the global EV market with a 22.2 percent share in the first half. (Yonhap)