Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest carmaker, is expected to post record annual sales in India in 2014, thanks to strong demand for its all-new i20 Elite supermini, company officials said Friday.

According to Indian data, Hyundai sales in the first 10 months of this year rose 8 percent to 343,456 units from 318,156 a year earlier. At the present pace, the carmaker’s sales will likely exceed the record 391,276 units sold in all of 2012, officials said.

Hyundai sold 38,010 cars last month, up 5.6 percent from the year before. The increase is the second-highest monthly gain after Japan’s Honda Motor Co., which reported an 18.1 percent on-year jump in sales. Market leader Maruti Suzuki said its sales were up 1 percent.

Hyundai’s growth is significant because it comes as demand for cars on the subcontinent contracted 5.1 percent from the year before.

The gain helped Hyundai maintain its second-place market share at 17.3 percent. Industry insiders said Hyundai’s gains were helped by sales of the i20, which was launched in July. (Yonhap)