Korea’s Car Market
Most Korean automakers enjoyed a rebound in sales last month, thanks to aggressive marketing. However, Hyundai Motor Company’s domestic sales decreased during the month due to a partial strike by the labor union.
Hyundai Motor Company’s Monthly Domestic Sales Dipped below 50,000 Units in One Year
Hyundai Motor Company announced on September 2 that its domestic sales for August declined by 19.6% month-on-month to 47,680 units, dipping below the 50,000 unit mark for the first time in six months.
The figure is the lowest since August 2012, given the number of workdays reduced for the New Year’s Holiday season of February. “The year-on-year increase in sales between August 2012 and last month is because of the base effect, that is, the lowest record since January 2009 owing to the long-term strike of August last year,” said the company, adding, “The partial strike and the discontinuation of overtime have led to a drop in sales volume across the entire lineup.”
Specifically, sales volume reached 7,905 units for the Avante, 7,389 for the Sonata, 6,457 for the Grandeur, 2,650 for the Accent, and 981 for the Equus, the total standing at 27,998 units to post a negative 8.8% growth. Its SUVs were sold 39.3% less from a month earlier -- 4,839 units for the Santa Fe, 3,409 for the Tucson ix, 811 for the Max Cruze, and 403 for the Veracruz. In the meantime, it sold 333,749 cars in overseas markets during the same month to record a 9.8% growth from a month ago. 248,161 units out of these were produced in its manufacturing facilities abroad.
All of the Others Enjoyed Rebound in Sales
Kia Motors sold 39,000 and 185,247 cars in and out of Korea last month, respectively. The growth rate amounted to 17.5% when compared to the same month of last year, when the strike reached its peak, and to 5.7% vis-à-vis July this year. The company also suffered from a partial strike last month so that the production volume dropped by 9,475 units, but achieved a successful result nonetheless. In particular, the Morning, the K5, the Sportage R and the K3 showed good performance to boost the sales volume by 21.6% year-on-year. The domestic and overseas production increased 33.9% and 5.4% each to raise the overseas sales volume by 16.7%.
GM Korea sold 13,406 cars in the Korean market in August, reaching the highest level since 2003 when it comes to the August sales volume. Renault Samsung set a new high in the domestic market as well, selling 5,094 and 5,717 cars in and out of Korea, respectively. It broke its own record for the second consecutive month. The sales volume of the SM3 went up by 15.4% from a month ago to lead in growth.
Ssangyong Motors sold 5,158 and 6,452 cars in the Korean and overseas markets each in August. The Korando series models led the upward trend, despite the decrease in working days for the summer vacation season. Its monthly sales volume went up by 27.1% and 23.9% on a year-on-year basis and on a cumulative basis, respectively.