Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister Kia Motors Corp. recovered the 70 percent market share range in the sport utility vehicle (SUV) sector in South Korea last month, driven by brisk sales of new models such as Kona and Stonic.

According to auto industry sources on Monday, August domestic sales of Hyundai and Kia SUVs reached 13,335 and 14,692 units, respectively, sending their combined market share to 70.2 percent in the sector, a level last seen in June last year.

The recovery is largely credited to their new compact SUVs Kona and Stonic that successfully penetrated into the local compact SUV market, which had been led by Tivoli from Ssangyong Motor Co.

Kona became the second-best selling compact SUV in Korea with 3,145 units sold in the first month after the release in July and then dethroned Tivoli in August with 4,230 units sold.

Kona bumped up Hyundai Motor’s SUV sales in August, while older SUV models - Tucson and Santa Fe - were maintained at usual levels.

By Woo Je-yoon

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