Sales Drop Slows Down in May

New cars rolled out from Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant

Korean carmakers saw their sales at home and abroad drop by up to 40 percent on year in May.

Hyundai Motor sold 217,510 units worldwide in May, down 39.3 percent from May 2019 when it sold 358,567 units. In the domestic market, the carmaker sold 70,810 units, 4.5 percent more than the same period of 2019. But in overseas markets, it suffered a 49.6 percent drop on year by selling 146,700 units. However, Hyundai Motor's sales have recovered somewhat from the 70.4 percent drop on year in April.

It went the same for Kia Motors. In Korea, the carmaker posted a 19 percent increase from a year earlier by selling 51,181 units. It benefited from the launch of new models such as the new Sorento. But in overseas markets, it recorded a 44 percent drop in sales by selling 109,732 units. Yet the figure is better than the 54.9 percent drop in April

GM Korea sold 24,778 units at home and abroad in May, down 39.7 percent from a year earlier. It suffered a 45.3 percent plunge in exports. SsangYong Motor sold 8,254 units in May, down 31.9 percent from a year ago. Renault Samsung posted the smallest drop, 16.2 percent, in global sales among the five Korean carmakers thanks to brisk domestic sales, which jumped 72.4 percent from the same month in 2019.

Frequent plant closures by Hyundai Motor and other carmakers are adversely affecting auto parts makers. "Auto parts companies' operation rates have decreased by more than 30 percent compared to the pre-COVID-19 period," said an official of the auto industry.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution