Hyundai, Kia see sharp rise in China sales this year

Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday that they saw their combined sales in China surge 25 percent in the first nine months of the year on brisk sales of mid-sized and sports utility vehicles. Hyundai Motor, South Korea\'s top automaker, said it sold 760,916 units in China in the January-September period, up 28 percent from a year earlier. Kia Motors also saw its sales in China soar 20 percent on-year to reach 400,360 units over the cited period. Hyundai and Kia are aiming to sell a combined 1.47 million units in the world\'s largest automotive market this year. \"If the current pace continues, we will be able to sell over 1.5 million units in China this year,\" said an official at Hyundai Motor. Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., a joint venture between Hyundai and Beijing Automotive, operates three assembly plants in Beijing, where it is set to finish the ongoing expansion of its third plant by next year. Hyundai would have an annual production capacity of 1.05 million units when the expansion is completed. Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motor also has two assembly plants in Yancheng in China\'s eastern Jiangsu province. They have a combined annual production capacity of 440,000 vehicles. Kia is set to start operates at a third plant in the Chinese city next year, which would raise its combined annual production capacity in China to 740,000 units. Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motor Co. is a joint venture between Kia, Chinese auto giant Dongfeng Motor Co. and Jiangsu Yueda Group Co.