Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their production of vehicles in the overseas market outstrip their domestic performance for the first time in 2012.

In particular, the carmakers’ factories in the BRIC ― Brazil, Russia, India and China ― market significantly fueled their overseas manufacturing capacity, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.

KAMA data showed that Hyundai-Kia’s vehicle production in the four fast-growing economies surpassed 2 million units for the first 11 months of the year.

Though the 2012 figure doesn’t involve their December production, it exceeded the yearly production of 1.93 million units posted in 2011.

Hyundai-Kia’s manufacturing in the BRIC countries accounted for about 60 percent of their total overseas production, which reached 3.32 million units in the January-November period.

Hyundai Motor’s Russian factory recorded 112.7 percent in the ratio of “real production” to “production capacity” and its Indian factory 99.8 percent, according to KAMA.

In contrast, the ratio posted by the carmaker’s plants in Korea stood at 98.7 percent over the corresponding period.

The two affiliated firms, which have secured a combined annual production capacity of 3.69 million units overseas, project their capacity to expand to 4.09 million units over the next two years.

Hyundai Motor seeks to add 100,000 units to its Turkish plant’s annual capacity this year and Kia is scheduled to complete the third plant in China by 2014.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)