Hyundai-Kia joining top five automakers in U.S.

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group is expected to expand its share of the U.S. market by 3.5 percentage points by 2013, according to a Merrill Lynch report released on Wednesday. In its annual "Car Wars" study, Merrill Lynch predicts the auto group's market share will increase from 7.4 percent in the first half of this year to 10.9 percent in 2013.

Although forecasts of Hyundai-Kia's market share are constantly changing, this latest is significant as it comes from a U.S. investment bank and it puts the Korean auto group at fifth place in the U.S.

According to the report, Hyundai-Kia will see the largest market share growth in the U.S. over the next four years, followed by Ford and Honda, each with three percentage points, Toyota with one percentage point, and Nissan with 0.5 percentage point. In contrast, GM's share of the U.S. market is expected to fall by five percentage points and Chrysler's by as much as six percentage points.

If the forecasts are accurate Ford will top the U.S. market, followed by Toyota, GM, Honda and Hyundai-Kia. Also, the market share gap between Honda and Hyundai-Kia will narrow from 3.6 percentage points in the first half of this year to 3.1 percentage points in 2013.