The global market share of South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. hit a record high in 2012 as robust sales around the world offset sluggish domestic performance, a U.S. marketing firm said Wednesday.

A total of 7.101 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles were delivered last year, accounting for 8.8 percent of the global market share, up 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

In particular, the two firms’ combined global market share reached 9.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, breaking the previous quarterly record of 9.1 percent set in the second quarter of 2011.

The companies’ combined market share has been on the rise in recent years due to strong demand. In 2007, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors attained 6.1 percent of the world market share.

The two carmakers saw their sales jump more than 10 percent in Europe where car sales suffered an 8 percent drop in 2012 from a year earlier.

Last year, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors retained the title of the world’s fifth-largest automaking group after Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Renault-Nissan Group. (Yonhap News)