Hyundai, Kia make up 11.3% of UK's new car registrations in 2022

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group accounted for 11.3% of the new car registrations in the UK last year, according to a report that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) released earlier this month. 

It is the first time that the parent group of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. has made up more than 10% of the UK's annual new vehicle registrations since it entered the European country in 1982. In 2021, the group made up 9.8%.

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. repectively sold 80,419 and 100,191 units of new cars in the UK last year.  For Kia, it is the first time that the automaker has exceeded 100,000 units in new car sales per year in the UK.

The auto giant ranked third, after 21.5% by Volkswagen AG, which owns popular European car brands such as Audi and Porsche, and 12.0% by Stellantis N.V., the parent of Peugeot and Chrysler.

German auto giant BMW AG ranked fourth with 9.6%, followed by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's 8.5%, Ford Motor Company's 7.9% and the Toyota Group's 7.0%.

Of the top 10 brands in the UK’s new car registrations last year, Hyundai (4.98%), Kia (6.21%) and Toyota (6.33%) were the only three which raised their market shares.

In the bestseller models last year, sport utility vehicles Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. Kia e-Niro was named the third bestseller electric vehicle in the UK, with 11,197 units in sales, following Tesla Model Y's 35,551 and Tesla Model 3's 19,071 units.

Hyundai cars are gaining more reputation in the UK. Tucson was selected as the best of 50 family cars tested by BBC's motoring TV show Top Gear last December. In the same month, hydrogen hybrid car N Vision 74 received Instant Icon, one of the most prestigious prizes at the 2022 TopGear.com Awards.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.