South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co.’s compact SUV Kona joined the world’s 100 best-seller rank in just two years in the market.

According to the global automobile market researcher Focus2Move on Monday, Kona was ranked 66th after selling 133,971 units in the word in the first six months of this year.

Sales of Kona jumped 67.2 percent on year, moving up 49 notches from the 115th, on rising popularity in the U.S. and European markets.

Total 10 domestic models were included in the list – seven from Hyundai Motor and three from Kia Motors.

Among them, Hyundai Motor’s SUV Tucson claimed the highest 14th, down one notch from last year, after sales fell 9.8 percent on year to 257,559 units. Kia Motors SUV Sportage moved up two notches to the 16th after sales up 2.8 percent to 246,181 units.

Mid-sized sedan Avante of Hyundai came 25th with 196,909 units (down 37.3 percent), and Hyundai Santa Fe 49th with 153,319 units (up 1.6 percent). Others in the top 100 were Hyundai i20 on 84th (122,728 units), Hyundai Sonata 89th (116,327 units), Kia Sorento 95th (109,830 units).

Meanwhile, Toyota’s Corolla maintained its top position with 596,281 units despite a 2.0 percent fall in sales. Among the Toyota models, nine were on the list with Rav4 at third and Camry at eighth.

By Lee Jong-hyuk and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]