Hyundai Motor Company Doing Well in German Car Market

The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) announced on September 11 that Hyundai Motor Company sold 9,240 cars in Germany last month, up 5.6% from a year ago, while Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche sold a total of 8,735 cars in South Korea during the same period.

Likewise, Hyundai Motor Company sold 9,209 cars in the German market in July this year, when the combined sales volume of the five German automakers added up to 9,059 in South Korea. 

Back in 2012, Hyundai Motor Company’s annual sales volume in Germany and the German carmakers’ annual sales volume in South Korea had been 100,000 or so vs. approximately 84,000. In 2013, however, the latter exceeded the former for the first time as the popularity of German diesel cars rose. Last year, the German automakers sold no less than 167,000 cars in South Korea to exceed Hyundai Motor Company’s annual sales volume in Germany by a margin of 59,000 cars.

The recent reversal can be attributed to the Volkswagen emissions scandal. In the South Korean imported car market, the ratio of German cars dropped from 74.6% to 54.8% between August last year and last month.