Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their February sales in the U.S. market reach an all-time high.

Hyundai Motor sold 51,151 units last month in the U.S., up 18 percent from 43,533 units a year earlier. It is a record-high performance for the carmaker’s February sales.

Sales of the Sonata and Avante, called the Elantra in the U.S., came to 17,425 and 13,820 units, respectively.

Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor, reported 37.3 percent growth with sales of 45,038 units in the world’s biggest automobile market, compared to 32,806 units a year before.

The company’s performance also marked a record-high in terms of February sales.

The K5 sedan, dubbed the Optima in North America, took the lead in the noteworthy sales. Kia sold 11,558 units of the midsize sedan. The year-on-year sales growth of the K5 came to 138.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor’s February sales at home and abroad came to 360,979 units, up 28.3 percent from month earlier.

Its domestic sales climbed 8.6 percent. The Grandeur sedan was the best-selling model, followed by the Avante and the Sonata.

Its sales in overseas markets including exports surged by 32.5 percent.

Kia Motors’ sales climbed 35.5 percent on-year in February due to solid demand for its vehicles in overseas markets.

It sold 240,124 vehicles last month, compared with 177,276 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure also represents a 13.7 percent gain from 211,116 vehicles sold by the company in January.

Domestic sales gained 2.5 percent on-year to 40,012 vehicles last month, with exports surging 44.7 percent to 200,112.

GM Korea saw its sales in February rose 14.7 percent from a year earlier due to brisk sales in the domestic and overseas markets.

It sold 62,959 vehicles last month, compared with 54,891 units sold a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure also represents a modest 1.5 percent gain from January.

Domestic sales surged 34.7 percent from the same period last year to 10,277 vehicles, with exports climbing 11.5 percent on-year to 52,682 units.

Renault Samsung Motors said its February sales fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier due mainly to a slump in the domestic market.

The automaker sold 16,987 vehicles last month, compared with 17,408 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Its February sales, however, jumped 17.6 percent from the previous month when the company sold 14,440 cars overall.

Domestic sales nosedived 30.5 percent on-year to 5,858 units last month, but exports shot up 23.9 percent to 11,129 vehicles, it said.

Ssangyong Motor reported that its February sales surged 30.9 percent from a year earlier, driven by brisk domestic sales and overseas shipments.

It sold 8,866 vehicles last month, compared with 6,772 units sold a year ago, the carmaker said in a statement.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)