Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their combined shares in China surpass 9 percent for the first time this year in April, the companies said Monday.

The two Korean carmakers sold a combined 146,378 cars in April in China, up 0.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data provided by the companies.

The combined share by Hyundai and Kia in the world's largest auto market stood at 9.2 percent in April, compared with 8.2 percent in March, the data showed.

The data showed that Hyundai Motor sold 96,222 cars in China in April, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, while Kia Motors' sales shrank 10.4 percent to 50,156 units.

Hyundai and Kia trailed behind German carmaker Volkswagen and American carmaker General Motors, whose market shares in China came to 18.7 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

Hyundai and Kia form the world's fifth-largest automaker. (Yonhap)