In 2017, the two Korean carmakers suffered sharp sales declines in the world's biggest automobile market due to intensified bilateral political tensions between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the anti-missile defense system called THAAD. Beijing explicitly opposed the THAAD system, arguing it could be used against it.

In the United States, Hyundai sold 554,726 units in 10-month period, down 1.8 percent from 564,750 a year ago. Kia's sales in the world's most important automobile market fell 1 percent to 497,144 from 502,327 during the cited period, the firms said.

In Europe, Hyundai's sales rose 6.1 percent to 454,822 in the 10 months from 428,658 and Kia's climbed 5.8 percent to 417,698 from 394,835, they said.

Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, aim to sell 7.55 million units globally this year, up from 7.25 million last year. (Yonhap)