The accumulated sales of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors exceeded the 10 million mark in the shortest period of time among global competitors who have entered the Chinese market . The automotive group announced on Monday that its cumulative sales in China surpassed 10 million units on Friday . The outcome was accomplished 13 years after it made forays into the Chinese market in 2002 , and the Korean company outstrips others in terms of how long it took to reach the milestone - Volkswagen , the leading car maker in China , with 25 years and GM with 17 years . Among the accumulated sales of 10 million units , Beijing Hyundai Motor sold 6 , 547 , 297 units and Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors , 3 , 453 , 479 units . China is the third country where the cumulative sales of the Korean carmaker exceeded the 10 million mark following Korea in 1996 and the US in 2011 . The first factor for success of the automotive manufacturer is to put strategic local cars in the country . The company implemented a differentiation strategy from its competitors , who sold old models , by putting recent models at the time , which were selling in Korea , and strategic cars from the first year when the company entered the Chinese market . In particular , cars such as the ‘ Cheollima ’ and the ‘ Wiedung , ’ which were developed to target the Chinese market , gained popularity as soon as they were released thanks to their designs considering consumers ’ tastes and marketability optimized in road conditions of the country . The second factor is to actively target the compact car market with the highest demand in China and the SUV market with the highest growth rate . Demand for the Chinese compact car market came to a whopping 8 , 060 , 000 units , accounting for 47 . 4 percent of the total demand . [ ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk . co . kr , All rights reserved ]