Car sales by Hyundai Motor Co. backtracked in Europe last year amid weak overall market conditions, while its smaller sibling Kia Motors Corp. managed to increase its presence on the continent, industry data showed Thursday.

According to the data by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Hyundai sold around 408,000 units in 2013, down 2.2 percent from the previous year. Kia, on the other hand, posted sales topping 329,000 vehicles, up 0.4 percent on-year.

The changes caused Hyundai’s market share in the 27-country European Union to dip one percentage point to 3.4 percent while that of Kia rose a percentage point to 2.8 percent in the cited period.

Because new car sales for the overall market decreased 1.7 percent to 11.85 million, combined market share of the two South Korean carmakers reached 6.2 percent, up from 6.1 percent tallied for 2012. (Yonhap News)