Hyundai Motor, Kia combined sales rank 3rd worldwide in first half of 2022

Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 [YONHAP]

Combined sales by Hyundai Motor and Kia ranked third place worldwide during the first half of this year, after Toyota and Volkswagen Group.

The upbeat result can be attributed to the proper management of auto parts and chips that are short in supply and increased sales of high-end models like Genesis.

Hyundai Motor and Kia sold a total of 3.299 million vehicles globally in the January-June period, following Toyota Motor Group's 5.138 million units and Volkswagen Group's 4.006 million units, according to their sales data.

Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance took fourth place and Stellantis took fifth.

In the first six months, increased sales of Genesis models, the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the pure electric Kia EV6 pushed up the Korean carmaker's sales ranking.

The group's ranking jumped on-year from fifth place, with sales of 3.475 million autos in the first half of 2021.

The Korean automaker's first-half sales fell 5.1 percent from a year earlier, faring better than its global competitors. Toyota Group's sales declined 6 percent, Volkswagen Group's dropped 14 percent, Stellantis' shed 16 percent, and General Motors plunged 19 percent.

Stellantis is a 50:50 joint venture set up through the merger of U.S. carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and French automaker PSA Groupe.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]