Hyundai-Kia Outsells Toyota in Canada, China, Europe

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group sold more cars in Canada in July than its Japanese rival Toyota for the third consecutive month, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said yesterday.

Jointly, sister firms Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold 17,155 vehicles Canada. That puts the group fourth behind Ford, GM and Chrysler. Toyota came in fifth with 14,882 vehicles for the month. It was followed by Honda with 11,615 and Nissan with 8,318.

Hyundai-Kia passed Toyota in Canada for the first time in May. The group credited the popularity of the Hyundai Avante and Verna for its growth surge. The Avante was the fifth most popular model in Canada, with 3,223 sold. The Sonata sedan and the Tucson SUV are other popular Hyundai models. Hyundai-Kia is expected to surpass Toyota in sales for year.

The group also beat out Toyota in the Chinese market during the first half of this year with more than 480,000 cars to 362,000 for Toyota. It was the number 2 carmaker in the world’s biggest market.

It also edge out Toyota in the European market during the first half of 2010.

However, in the U.S., the world’s number 2 market, Toyota holds a commanding 14.3% market share against 8.4% for Hyundai-Kia.