Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Thursday their combined sales in the United States fell 1 % in 2022 from a year earlier amid a prolonged chip shortage.

Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 1.47 million vehicles in the world's most important automobile market last year, down from 1.49 million units the previous year, according to the companies' sales data.

Hyundai's US sales declined 0.9 percent on-year to 780,675 units and Kia's dropped 1.1 percent to 693,549 last year. Hyundai's sales figure includes its independent Genesis brand's sales results, the data showed.

Genesis vehicle sales jumped 14 percent on-year to 56,410 during the same period.

Of the total, the Korean carmakers' environment friendly vehicle sales soared 65 percent to 182,627 units helped by rising demand for zero-emission and low-emitting models in the US market.

The carmakers see the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act as major worries for their sales in the US this year.

The IRA excludes electric vehicles built outside North America from tax credits. The new law is widely expected to deal a blow to Hyundai and Kia, as they produce their EVs at domestic plants for export to the US. (Yonhap)