Domestic Car Market Remains Frozen

Renault Samsung's QM6 LPG

The domestic car market remains frozen. The combined domestic sales of the five domestic automakers – Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Ssangyong Motor, Renault Samsung, and GM Korea – reached 118,479 units in August, down 6.22 percent from a year before.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold 52,897 and 43,362 units, respectively, down 9.7 percent and 1.9 percent from the same month of last year.

Sales of GM Korea and Ssangyong Motors dropped 13.3 percent and 11.2 percent to 6,411 units and 8,038 units, respectively.

Renault Samsung was the only carmaker that enjoyed sales growth in the Korean market. It sold 7,771 units, up 9.3 percent from the same month last year. The mid-sized sport utility vehicle (SUV) QM6 led Renault Samsung’s sales growth. Renault Samsung is the only one among the five automakers that have LPG-powered models. The QM6 LPG model accounted for 61.3 percent of the total QM6 sales.

Meanwhile, August overseas sales of the five domestic carmakers were 520,956 units, down 2.07 percent from the same period last year. As a result, their combined sales fell 2.87 percent to 639,435 units.

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