Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors show little sign of recovering on their home turf from their slowing car sales in recent months.

Hyundai Motor said Monday that its global car sales increased 10.4 percent to 402,406 vehicles in May from a year ago. But its domestic sales continued its downward trend in recent months, posting a 0.2 percent decline to 57,942 units in the month.

Despite a slight increase in SUV sales, reduced working days at its Korean factories negatively affected its domestic supply, officials said.

Offsetting the output loss in Korea, sales of vehicles produced at overseas plants drove up the carmaker’s overall sales last month.

Kia Motors sold 39,500 vehicles in Korea last month, a 3.1 percent decrease from the same period last year.

Its combined sales in Korea and abroad also decreased 5.9 percent to 253,701.

Meanwhile, three smaller Korea-based carmakers continued their recent sales momentum last month.

GM Korea, the Korean unit of General Motors, said its sales edged up 1.2 percent, selling 11,810 vehicles in Korea and exporting 56,549 abroad.

Ssangyong Motor sold 12,730 vehicles globally. Its domestic sales, in particular, soared 28.4 percent from the same period last year, largely driven by its strong SUV lineups.

Renault Samsung Motors, even though it is still recovering from sluggish sales last year, sold 9,572 vehicles in May ― 4,602 in Korea and 4,970 in exports ― a 1.5 percent increase from the previous month.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)