Sharply Decreased Car Sales

The domestic automakers’ domestic sales sharply drop in Aug.
The domestic automakers’ domestic sales sharply drop in Aug.

 

The traditional slow month of August, coupled with labor strike, saw domestic automakers’ domestic sales sharply drop.

According to Hyundai Motor on August 1, their domestic sales slid 17.6% to 42,112 units from a year before. In particular, Hyundai Motor inked drops in sales of all kinds of passenger cars. Sales of the Genesis, a luxury model, decreased 22% from the previous month.  

Sales of Kia Motors declined 10.4% year on year due to shrunken production caused by a labor strike and a drop in demand triggered by the end of a cut in individual consumption tax and an off-season when people make holiday. Even though some models such as the K7 and the Carnival put up a good fight, most of the passenger cars and RVs chalked up drops of 5 to 55% compared to the same period of last year.   

Last month, GM Korea’s domestic sales dwindled 8% year on year, too. The drop was impacted by a sale cliff sparked off the end of an exercise tax cut and a labor dispute. GM Korea announced on September 1 that the automaker sold a total of 35,971 units (domestic sales: 12,773 units / exports: 23,198) in August. Last month, its domestic sales dropped by nearly 1,000 units from a year before. “Although, traditionally, August is a slow season, a labor dispute over wage negotiations impeded production and sales,” GM Korea said.  

At that, the Spark, a compact car, put up a good fight. The Spark sold 5,850 units last month. The model sold over 5,000 units for seven consecutive months from the start of this year. 

Ssangyong Motor which finished a collective bargaining agreement for seven years in a row enjoyed a 2.1% increase in domestic sales. “While the Tivoli steadily put up a good fight, cooperation between the labor and management enabled the automaker are slowly getting out of the effects of a drop in sales ignited by the end of an exercise tax cut. Even increases in sales all models drove up Renault Samsung Motors’ sales by 24.4% year on year. 

Coupled with an 95.2% increase in exports, total sales soared 51.5%. 

 

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