Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., saw their combined sales in the United States fall slightly in December, but their annual sales in 2016 were the best-ever, industry data showed Wednesday.

    The two South Korean auto giants sold a combined 116,658 units in the US last month, 1 % down from 117,749 units last year, due to a 1.9 % fall in Hyundai's sales to 62,305 units, compared with last year's 63,508, the data showed.

    Kia's December sales rose slightly to 54,353 units from last year's 54,241. For all of 2016, however, both Hyundai and Kia said they had the best-ever annual sales in the US. 

    Hyundai sold a total of 775,005 units in 2016, up 1.75 % from last year, in the seventh consecutive year of record US sales, while Kia sold 647,598 units, a 3.5 % rise from last year, the data showed. "As consumer confidence surged in December, to the highest level in more than a decade, we were able to capitalize on that and set a new record for sales in 2016," Derrick Hatami, vice president of national sales for Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement. 

    Kia said the December sales represent the highest for the month in company history, and it also capped off the best-ever fourth quarter sales.