Korea's Share Edges up from 7.3% to 8.4%
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly pushed down auto sales in major markets by 27.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2020. But Korean carmakers suffered a relatively small drop in sales and raised their global market share by 1 percentage point.
According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, China, which was the epicenter of the pandemic, suffered the most, followed by Europe. The automobile markets in China and Europe shrank 45.4 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year. The next largest drop was recorded by India, which posted a 22.4 percent drop from a year earlier.
The United States and emerging economies recorded relatively small declines. The U.S. market only decreased 12.7 percent on year as move restriction measures took effect in late March. Emerging markets such as Mexico and Brazil also saw 10.9 percent and 9.2 percent decreases from 2019 as national move bans and quarantine measures were implemented in March. On the other hand, in Russia, sales grew 1.8 percent on year due to advanced purchases by consumers were concerned about a rise in vehicle prices due to a drop in the value of the Russian ruble.
Observing sales in the first quarter by nationalities, European and Chinese automakers’ market shares fell, while those of U.S., Japanese, and Korean automakers rose. The share of European auto brands in the first quarter fell by 0.3 percentage points from 31.8 percent in 2019 to 31.5 percent in 2020. The share of Chinese automobile brands in the first quarter fell by 3.5 percentage points from 14.9 percent to 11.4 percent in the same period.
On the other hand, the shares of American and Japanese car brands increased 0.9 percentage points from 18.1 percent to 19.9 percent, 1.7 percentage points from 25.5 percent to 26.3 percent, respectively. Korean brands also recorded the smallest decrease of 15.9 percent while their share increased by 1.2 percentage points from 7.3 percent to 8.4 percent.