Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold a combined 61,727 automobiles in France last year, just 24 units short of setting a new record, industry data showed Wednesday.

The automakers sold a record 61,751 units in 2012, according to state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

Hyundai Motor sold 28,043 units, up 17 percent on-year, while Kia Motors sold 33,684 units, up 15.6 percent on-year.

Combined, the two firms saw a 16.2 percent increase in sales from 2015.

The rate far exceeds France’s auto market expansion rate of 5.1 percent, KOTRA said.

The French auto market enjoyed a boom last year, with over 2.01 million vehicles sold. This surpasses the high of 1.89 million units sold in 2012.

Hyundai and Kia Motors’ push in the sales of sports utility vehicles, which are preferred in the European market and are growing in popularity worldwide, also contributed to the outcome, Kotra said.

Sales of Hyundai’s compact SUV Tucson rose 150.3 percent to 13,006 units, and listed No. 40 in the top 100 ranking of models sold in France.

A total of 9,951 units of the Kia Sportage compact SUV were sold, coming in at No. 53.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)