Seoul, March 17 (IANS): South Korea's biggest carmakers Hyundai Motor and Kia have sold more than an accumulated 5 million eco-friendly vehicles in the global market over the past 15 years, company officials said on Sunday.

The officials informed that the two companies sold a total of 5.11 million units of eco-friendly cars, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), electric vehicles (EVs), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), as of end-January, surpassing the 5 million mark 15 years after they began selling such models in 2009, Yonhap news agency reported.

In 2023 alone, Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia sold a combined 1.36 million eco-friendly vehicles, hitting the 1 million mark for the second consecutive year.

HEVs accounting for 57.8 per cent of total sales were the most popular which was followed by EVs (30.8 per cent), PHEVs (10.6 per cent), and FCEVs (0.8 per cent).

Kia's Niro HEV sold the most at 606,000 units, with Hyundai's Tucson Hybrid and KONA Electric trailing at 356,000 and 332,000 units, respectively, the report said.

The Korean carmakers said the growth of the global EV market is attributable to their solid sales and they plan to expand their environment-friendly vehicle lineup this year.

Hyundai plans to release an electric model of the mini sport utility vehicle (SUV) Casper in the second half of this year, while Kia will unveil its new all-electric SUV, EV3, in the first half.

Hyundai and Kia said they aim to sell a combined 1.5 million units of eco-friendly cars in 2024, upping their EV sales by 27 per cent to 600,000 units and sales of hybrid models by 25 per cent to 850,000 units, the report said.