LOS ANGELES (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday that sales of its cars and those of its sister company Kia Motors Corp. showed signs of recovery in the United States last month.

Hyundai Motor sold 68,306 vehicles in the United States in March, up 30.6 percent from a month ago. Kia Motors sold 49,125 units in the U.S. last month, up 18.4 percent from a month ago.

Still, the two carmakers, the flagship companies of Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automotive group, said their sales figures in March were down from a year ago, though they did not provide details.

The Avante, a compact model called the Elantra in North America, became Hyundai’s best-selling model in the United States in March, with 26,153 units sold, beating Hyundai’s Sonata, a mid-size sedan, with 18,031 units.

Kia said it sold 14,366 units of K5, a mid-size sedan called the Optima in the U.S., followed by popular Sorento mid-size crossover with 10,005 units and the Soul box car with 12,080.

Hyundai and Kia ranked seventh in terms of sales in the U.S. in March as their combined market share accounted for 8.1 percent of all vehicles sold in the U.S. last month, according to Hyundai.