The sales of city cars in South Korea, such as the Spark and the Morning, have remained firm this year on the back of aggressive promotions by automakers, with their combined sales exceeding those of compact sedans, industry data showed Monday.

According to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, a total of 72,151 subcompact cars were sold in the country through May this year, compared with 69,978 compact sedans sold during the cited period.

Currently, there are three small car models here -- the Spark by GM Korea Co., and the Morning and the Ray produced by Kia Motors Corp.

Market experts attributed the solid sales of small cars to automakers giving big benefits, such as cash rewards to consumers.

The best-selling city car model was the Spark with 35,128 units sold in the first five months of the year, followed by the Morning with 28,958 units and the Ray with 8,059, according to the data.

In contrast, compact sedans, such as Hyundai Motor Co.'s Avante and Kia's K3, suffered a setback in their sales for the past two months as consumers opted to buy mid-sized sedans, such as the Impala by GM Daewoo and the SM6 by Renault Samsung Motors Co. (Yonhap)