Seasonal Peak
The five major Korea-based automakers (Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp., KG Mobility, Renault Korea Motors, and GM Korea) enjoyed increases in their sales volume in June, thanks to a peak season.
According to industry sources on July 3, the five carmakers sold a total of 133,803 units in the Korean market in June. This represented a year-on-year increase of 10.5 percent and a month-on-month increase of 2.7 percent.
By company, four of them excluding Renault Korea inflated their sales compared to the same period of 2022. This is due to the fact that the second quarter is usually considered a seasonal peak in the automotive industry, and the sales volume was boosted by a combination of eased semiconductor supply and the effects of new model launches.
First of all, Hyundai Motor, which has been building up its inventory enough since 2022, enjoyed an increase in sales without any worries thanks to the effects of new model launches. In June, Hyundai sold 71,163 units in Korea, up a whopping 17.9 percent year on year. Its sales also jumped by 2.2 percent from May.
Unlike Hyundai, which was able to capitalize on the effects of new model launches for the seventh month in a row, its sister company Kia posted sales growth without the launch of one single new model. Kia’s June domestic sales added up to 51,102 units, up 13.3 percent year on year.
Mixed results around new models were given to the three remaining Korean-based carmakers which are relatively smaller than Hyundai and Kia in the Korean car market. KG Mobility and GM Korea posted stable domestic sales thanks to the effects of new model launches, while Renault Korea Motors even spearheaded a campaign to boost sales, as they had no new models to launch in June.
KG Mobility returned to the 5,000 unit mark in the Korean market in June with sales of 5,758 units, up 25.6 percent year on year. The previous month, in May, KG Mobility sold 4,809 units at home.
GM Korea crossed the 5,000-unit threshold for monthly domestic sales for the first time this year with the Chevrolet Trax Crossover. In June, GM Korea sold 5,159 units in Korea, up 16.4 percent from a year before.
Renault Korea Motors, however, received a dismal June report card. The Korean subsidiary of the French automaker sold 1,721 units in June, down 77.1 percent from a year earlier. Its sales contracted by 3.2 percent compared to the previous month due to a lack of diversity in its model lineup and the absence of attractive new models.
Meanwhile, Hyundai and Kia accounted for a combined 90.5 percent of the Korean market in June, up 4.1 percentage points from 86.4 percent a year earlier. Renault Korea Motor, KG Mobility, and GM Korea accounted for only 9.5 percent combined, down 4.2 percentage points from 13.7 percent a year earlier.