Seoul: Combined vehicle sales of South Korea's leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. in Europe fell 1.4 percent in October from a year earlier, industry data showed Tuesday, mainly due to a shortage of newly launched models.

According to Yonhap News Agency, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reveals that Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 81,540 vehicles in Europe last month, a slight decrease from 82,734 units in the same period last year. "The monthly decline was mainly driven by a lack of new models introduced in the European market, among other factors," a Hyundai spokesperson stated.

Breaking down the numbers, Hyundai Motor's sales declined by 0.8 percent to 41,137 units from 41,488 units a year earlier. Meanwhile, Kia experienced a 2 percent drop in sales, selling 40,403 units compared to 41,246 units in October of the previous year.

In the context of increasingly stringent emissions regulations in Europe, Hyundai and Kia are turning their focus toward promoting eco-friendly models. These include Hyundai's Tucson gasoline hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, the all-electric Kona, as well as Kia's all-electric EV3 and Niro plug-in hybrid models.

Despite the decline, Hyundai and Kia accounted for 7.5 percent of the European vehicle market last month, where overall sales rose by 4.9 percent on-year to 1,091,904 units. However, their combined market share did see a reduction of 0.5 percentage points from the previous year.

For the first ten months of the year, the two companies' cumulative sales decreased by 2.8 percent to 879,479 units from 904,712 units a year earlier. Their market share for this period also saw a decline of 0.4 percentage points on-year to 8 percent.