Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday that its cumulative sales of Hyundai and Kia cars in China have exceeded 9 million units since it entered one of the world’s largest automotive markets in 2002.

Thanks to the rise in demand for sports utility vehicles and compact cars, the world’s fifth-largest carmaker sold more than 1.2 million units in the first nine months of this year.

According to the figures, Beijing Hyundai sold 812,399 cars and Dong Feng Yueda Kia sold 459,759 units from January to September, a 9.5 percent rise from 1.1 million units over the same period last year. 

The most popular model for Hyundai was the Avante MC, sold under the name Langdong, with 179,139 units sold. It was followed by Verna and Avante HD, released as Yuedong, all classified as compact cars.

The SUV craze has also led to high sales of Hyundai’s Tucson ix, sold under the name ix24 there, as well as the Santa Fe. A total of 153,506 units were sold.

For Kia, the K3, Ks and Sportage R were the most popular models.

“Hyundai has the compact SUV ix25 in the pipeline ready to be sold from this month while Kia started selling its compact sedan K4 last month,” a Hyundai spokesman said. “The company will continue to be devoted to the Chinese market with more tailored models and corporate social responsibility programs that will bring the local customers and their society close to us.”

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)