Seoul, Aug 23 (IANS): South Korean automaker Hyundai Motors electric vehicle (EV) sales increased in the first half of the year compared with a year ago, but its global market share fell in the face of toughening competitions with Chinese rivals, industry data showed on Monday.

Hyundai Motor was in sixth place in terms of global EVs sales in the January-June period, one notch down from the fifth position a year ago, according to the data by industry tracker SNE Research.

The automaker's global EV sales jumped 75.6 percent on-year to 51,300 units in the first six months of the year, but its market share fell to 2.9 percent from 4.5 percent over the period, data showed.

American EV maker Tesla topped the global EV market with a 22.2 percent share in the first half, followed by SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, a joint venture among SAIC Motor, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Motor, as well as BYD and Volkswagen and Great Wall Motors Company.

Among the top five, two were Chinese automakers and a joint venture involving Chinese companies, reports Yonhap news agency.

Hyundai Motor boosted EV sales with its Kona EV, all-electric Ioniq 5 and Porter electric trucks earlier this year, but its growth was slower than Chinese automakers which rapidly expanded the market on the back of strong demand on home turf.

SNE Research said the Korean automaker faces an uphill battle to expand its presence in the growing EV market as it faces toughening competition between established automakers and emerging Chinese rivals.