Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia Motors saw a boost in sales last month in China, thanks to the popularity of sports utility vehicles there and the improved economic conditions, officials said Thursday.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest automaker, and Kia Motors, the second-largest, sold a combined total of 111,021 vehicles in July, up 31.9 percent year-on-year. 


Separately, Hyundai Motor sold 70,016 units, up 29.3 percent year-on-year while Kia shipped 41,005 cars in July, increasing by 36.6 percent from the previous year.

The surge in July was largely contributed by the improved market condition of the world‘s second-largest economy. In July 2015, the overall Chinese auto market sales faltered amid the slowest economic growth in 25 years. Hyundai and Kia had suffered a sales decline of about 33 percent year-on-year in the month.

China’s July auto sales in total grew by 26.3 percent year-on-year to 1.6 million units, the highest monthly growth since January 2013, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufactures.

The boost was backed by the Chinese government policy that halved the purchase tax on cars with engines smaller than 1.6 liters and the growing popularity of SUVs, analysts said.

Experts predict the base effect-induced increase in China is likely to continue until September this year.

The combined market shares of the two South Korean auto brands in China stood at third with a 7.5 percent in July, following Volkswagen Group with 18 percent market share in the Chinese market and General Motors Co. 10 percent.

Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 919,379 cars in the first seven months this year in its biggest market, 2.4 percent up year-on-year. It compares with an 11 percent increase in the overall Chinese auto market in the same period.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)