Rolling Slowly
It has been found that South Korean automakers sold a total of 740,036 cars last month, down 7.23% from a year ago. In the domestic market, they recorded a sales volume of 139,617 to post a year-on-year increase of 4.24%. The domestic sales volume rose for the third consecutive month.
Hyundai Motor Company’s domestic sales volume fell 5.7% from a year earlier to 59,465. The Sonata accounted for 8,057 of the total, followed by Avante (7,658), Grandeur (5,165) and Accent (1,351). In its Genesis brand, the Genesis DH and the EQ900 were sold to 3,423 and 2,986 customers, respectively.
Kia Motors succeeded in boosting its volume by 12.7% to 48,505 with new models such as K7 and Niro. The company showed a double-digit year-on-year growth for three months in a row.
GM Korea increased its domestic sales volume by 10.2% to 13,978, hitting a new April high in 12 years. The growth was led by the new Chevrolet Spark, the sales volume of which soared by 62.4% to 7,273. The new Malibu, which made its debut in South Korea on April 27, is expected to enjoy much popularity as well. Its pre-order volume exceeded 2,000 on its first day in the market.
Ssangyong Motors’ domestic sales volume jumped by 12.3% to 9,133 with its Tivoli models hitting a new monthly high of 7,788. During the same period, Renault Samsung Motors sold 8,536 cars in the domestic market to show a growth of 21.6%, which was led by SM6 (5,195). It was followed by QM3 (1,095), SM5 (764) and SM3 (706).
In overseas markets, however, the companies recorded a negative growth without exception due to the ongoing economic recession. The amount declined by 5.5% to 353,161 for Hyundai Motor Company and by 15.9% for Kia Motors. GM Korea’s total monthly exports fell 8.6% to 36,602, too.
Ssangyong Motors’ fell 1.6% although the amount increased for the fourth consecutive month. Its export volume topped 4,000 for the first time in 11 months and is expected to continue to increase with the overseas supply of the Tivoli Air starting this month. Renault Samsung Motors’ exports decreased 17.9% to 13,445, the Nissan Rogue heading for the North American market taking up 12,999 of it.