Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., saw their combined sales in the United States rise 6 percent in July, thanks in large part to strong sales in sport utility vehicles, data showed Tuesday.

The two South Korean auto giants sold a combined 134,972 units in the U.S. last month, up from 127,324 units in the same month last year, the data showed. 

Hyundai's sales rose 5.6 percent from last year to 75,003 while Kia's totaled 59,969 units, up 6.4 percent compared with a year ago. Both said the figures represented their best-ever July sales.

"The strong performance of the Tucson and refreshed Santa Fe Sport and Santa Fe led us to our best July ever," Derrick Hatami, vice president of national sales for Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement. "Since launching the all-new Tucson a year ago, sales have been strong and this month was no exception with volume up 98 percent over 2015."

The Santa Fe saw its sales jump to 14,336 units from last year's 11,655, while Tucson's sales nearly doubled to 7,728 from last year's 3,908. The compact car Accent also fared well, selling 7,046 units compared with 4,276 last year.

Kia's Sportage SUV also saw its sales rise 53 percent to 8,111 from last year's 5,292, but sales of the Sorento remained almost flat at 9,854, compared with last year's 9,749 units.

The minivan Sedona also fared well, selling 5,037 units, a 37 percent rise from last year's 3,672. (Yonhap)