Just nine short years ago, the Hyundai - Kia Automotive Group ranked 11th in the hierarchy of the world’s largest automakers. However, a lot can change in the automotive industry in a decade and the Korean automaker has jumped an astonishing six spots to overtake the number five position.
That jump lands Hyundai/Kia ahead of such automakers as Honda , Nissan , Peugeot, Chrysler and Fiat, according to AutoIndustry.co.uk.
In 2007, Hyundai / Kia sold 3,961,629 vehicles worldwide – with the U.S. representing almost 800,000 of those sales – to just beat out Honda with 3,831,000 sales. Ford currently holds the number four spot, posting 5,964,000 sales in 2007.
Those numbers should improve in 2008 as Hyundai is one of the few automakers to post any sales gains so far in 2008 and also has several new product launches planned in the coming months.
