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South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia captured the largest share of the US market for electric vehicles (EVs) in the first five months of 2024, data showed on Sunday.

The two carmakers accounted for 11.2 per cent, or 48,838, of the 437,246 EVs sold in the US market over the January-May period, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.

This marks a sharp rise from 6.8 per cent in 2023 and 10.6 per cent in 2022. In 2020, Hyundai and Kia only accounted for 3.2 per cent of the US EV market, reported Yonhap news agency.

The two carmakers' combined share was 40.5 percentage points behind the US giant Tesla, narrowing from the 73.2 percentage point difference tallied in 2020.

EVs also made up nearly 40 per cent of the eco-friendly models sold by Hyundai and Kia in the US over the five-month period. The ratio was estimated at 17.2 per cent in 2020.