Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors saw their sales in China grow for the first time this year in April, raising prospects that their prolonged slump in the world's largest market might be easing, industry data showed Wednesday.

The two Korean carmaking giants sold a combined 146,722 cars last month in China, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data obtained by the English-language division of Yonhap News Agency.

The figures could be adjusted later as they are preliminary results.

This marked the first on-year uptick in their sales in China this year following serious setbacks in the previous months.

The two carmakers' combined sales in China dived by around 20 percent each in January and February, though the downward pace slowed to single digits in March.

The data showed that Hyundai Motor sold 96,222 cars in China, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, while Kia Motors saw its April car sales shrink 6.5 percent to 50,500 units.

During the January-April period, however, their cumulative sales in China dropped 11.1 percent on-year to 514,025.

China is one of the most important markets for Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors but business conditions there remain tough amid intensifying competition from local carmakers chipping away at their share with cheaper prices.

Apparently hurt by weaker demand from overseas markets, the two Seoul-based automotive companies earlier said that their combined car sales at home and abroad declined 7.8 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)