Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors ranked fifth in the global electric vehicle market, selling 44,838 electric vehicles (30,963 by Hyundai and 13,875 by Kia) in the first six months of the year,

Hyundai Motor Group said on Monday. The figure was up over 140 percent from 18,445 units a year ago.

According to industry tracker IHS Markit, Hyundai Motor Group took a 6.5 percent market share in the first half, trailing Tesla, BYD, Renault-Nissan and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). The Korean names leapfrogged from 4.1 percent share and ninth place last year.

The Korean auto giant had a 0.9 percent market share in the global EV market in 2014 by selling 2,437 units, but it entered the top 10 last year after fielding EV versions of popular SUVS Kona from Hyundai and Niro from Kia.

Global electric vehicle demand is growing fast. It doubled from 178,000 units in 2014 to 318,000 in 2015 and surpassed 1 million last year. Sales in the first half of this year already amounted to 704,000 units.

The proportion of full electric vehicles in the alternatively-fueled vehicle market is also on the rise, with 8.7 percent in 2014 and 36.0 percent in the first half of this year. The share of hybrids declined from 84.7 percent to 50.5 percent in the same period.​

By Lee Jong-hyuk and Minu Kim

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