Market Trend and Outlook

The South Korean Vehicles Market in October 2023 falls for the second month in a row, with new sales at 137,819 (-5.0%). YTD figures at 1.42 million are up 5.0% from the previous year.

Looking at cumulative data up to October 2023 brand-wise, Hyundai maintains 1st with 523,582 sales (+16.5%), followed by Kia in 2nd with 469,781 new registrations (+7.2%), Genesis in 3rd with 104,984 units sold (-3.0%), BMW at 62,514 (-3.1%) and Mercedes in 5th with 60,988 sales (-4.4%).

SsangYong maintains 6th with 54,788 new registrations (-3.4%), in front of GM Korea at 33,525 sales (+0.6%) and Renault Samsung with 18,579 registrations (-57.6%).

Audi maintains 9th spot with 15,258 sales (-10.7%) in front of Volvo closing the Top 10 with 13,770 units sold (+37.7%).

Looking at specific models the Hyundai Grandeur is the best seller, rising 3 spots with an 77.8% increase in year-on-year sales. Previous year’s leader the Hyundai Porter falls into 2nd place despite being up 8.2%.

Medium-Term Market Trend

South Korean automotive industry has been closed to foreign vehicles import until 2012. Then, the entrance of several new competitors fueled the market growth and the domestic sales grew up until the 2015, when the all-time record was established at 1.8 million sales.

Then the market was steady until the 2020, when the strong control over the covid diffusion allowed plus incentives to support the industry, pushed up the market (+5.8%) to hit the new record of 1.87 million. In this data there was a sort of pull-ahead effect, due to the incentives and then market started to moderately decline again.

In 2021 the market lost 8.5% in volume, falling to 1.72 million cumulative sales and in 2022 also lost another 2.5%, dropping to 1.67 million sales.

Perspectives are not positive. The market is fast moving towards electrification, but the high prices offered for EVS is discouraging part of consumers. In addition the industry suffer for the supply chain disruption, for microchips shortage and demand for cars is declining.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Market Trend and Outlook

The South Korean vehicles market in 2022 totals 1.67 million sales, a 2.4% decrease in sales compared to the prior year. Despite the overall downtrend, in December sales grew for the 5th month in a row, posting 160,726 new registrations (+5.2%).

Looking at cumulative data from 2022 brand-wise, the Top 5 remain unchanged from the previous year: Hyundai in 1st with 553,839 sales (-6.3%), Kia in 2nd with 541,068 (+1.1%), Genesis in 3rd with 135,045 registrations (-2.7%) followed by Mercedes with 80,976 (+6.3%) and BMW in 5th with 78,545 (+19.6%).

SsangYong ranks in 6th with 68,657 new registrations (+21.8%), in front of Renault Samsung at 52,621 sales (-13.9%) and GM Korea with 37,237 registrations (-31.4%).

Audi remains in 9th with 21,402 sales (-16.4%) in front of Volkswagen closing the Top 10 with 15,791 (+9.9%).

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Market Trend

The South Korean car market this year attempted to maintain the growth experienced the previous year despite the pandemic, but unfortunately fell in double-digits in Q2 and Q3.

The market has been closed to foreign vehicles import until the recent (2012) FTA with the EU. The entrance of many new competitors fueled the market growth in these years and the all-time record sales had been established in three years in a row in the period 2014-2016, with the record fixed at 1.83 million units.

On 26 March 2017, the U.S. and Korea agreed to revise their bilateral free trade agreement. The agreement—which would improve U.S. access to Korea’s automobile market and require Korea to curb its steel exports to the U.S. in return for an exemption from higher U.S. steel tariffs. The industry continued to assist at the growth of imported vehicles, mainly luxury brands, while in 2017 and was stable at around 1.8 million units. In 2019, the market fell marginally down, at 1.77 million sales.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic sales increased in  2020. In fact, sales have been 1,874,630, reporting an increase of 5.9% compared to 2019.

In 2021 the year started positively for the South Korean market, in fact, in Q1 431,505 units have been sold, reporting a 11.3% increase in sales compared to Q1 2020, but in Q2 sales started falling in double-digits, reporting a 12.6% decrease with 470,336 units sold.

In Q3 sales kept falling in double-digits, losing 14.4% with 388,460 units, and started rising again in Q4 with 545,880 units (+10.2%).

Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2021 have been 1.84 million, reporting a 2.1% decrease compared to 2020. 

Brand-wise, this year the leader Hyundai (-4.1%) lost 0.9% market share, followed by Kia (+4.8%), which gained 1.9% share. Genesis (+36.1%) gained 2.2% market share and reported the best performance on the leaderboard.  Mercedes reached 4th place and lost 0.9%, followed by Renault Samsung which fell 1 spot and lost 31.1%.

BMW jumped in 6th place -up 2 spots- (+12.5%), followed by SsangYong (-28.1%) -down 2 spots- and GM Korea which lost 2 spots and fell 31.3% sales, reporting the worst performance. Closing the leaderboard we have Audi gaining 0.4% and Volvo entering the leaderboard, gaining 19.2%.

The most sold vehicle this year has been the Hyundai Porter (+2.9%) with 98,507 units sold, followed by the Hyundai Grandeur, which lost 35% registering 94,557 new sales this year. The Hyundai Avante (-15.1%) closes the podium and reports 74,473 new units sold.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Market Trend

The Korean car market has grown in 2020 despite the global pandemic and restrictions damaging the economy.

The market has been closed to foreign vehicles import until the recent (2012) FTA with the EU. The entrance of many new competitors fueled the market growth in these years and the all-time record sales had been established in three years in a row in the period 2014-2016, with the record fixed at 1.83 million units.

On 26 March 2017, the U.S. and Korea agreed to revise their bilateral free trade agreement. The agreement—which would improve U.S. access to Korea’s automobile market and require Korea to curb its steel exports to the U.S. in return for an exemption from higher U.S. steel tariffs. The industry continued to assist at the growth of imported vehicles, mainly luxury brands, while in 2017 and was stable at around 1.8 million units. In 2019, the market fell marginally down, at 1.77 million sales.

However, the South Korean market in 2020 started in a very negative tone with sales in January down 13.1%. Several local factories suspended production due to component shortage caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, leading to 19.1% fewer sales in February. Nevertheless, the only other negative month this year has been August (-3.3%). The highest increase in sales was reported in June (+43.5%), but also September’s performance has been very impressive (+26.8%).

Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 1.874.630, reporting an increase of 5.9% compared to 2019.

Brand-wise, this year the leader Hyundai (-0.4%) lost 2.2% market share, followed by Kia (+7%), which gained 0.4% share. Genesis (+90.8%) gained 2.6% market share and reached third place -up 4 spots-.  Renault Samsung remained in 4th place and grew 10.6%, followed by SsangYong which fell 2 spots and lost 18.8%, registering the worst performance in the leaderboard.

GM Korea jumped in 6th place -up 25 spots-, followed by Mercedes (-1.5%) -down 2 spots- and BMW which lost 32.1% sales. Closing the leaderboard we have Audi -up 1 spot- registering the best performance in the leaderboard by gaining 113.9% and Volkswagen entering the leaderboard by jumping 8 spots, gaining 107%.

The most sold vehicle this year has been the Hyundai Grandeur (+44.6%) with 145.463 units sold, followed by the Hyundai Porter, which lost 4.6% registering 95.694 new sales this year. The Hyundai Avante (+37.4%) closes the podium by jumping 2 spots and reports 87.731 new units sold.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Economic Environment

South Korean economic growth was stable in the third quarter, according to revised GDP data. Private and government consumption growth remained robust, despite weakening slightly, while fixed investment declined at a softer pace and growth in exports of goods and services accelerated.

Shifting focus to the fourth quarter, the economy appears more or less on an even keel: Consumer confidence hit a seven-month high in November, while the service sector held up fairly well in October, boding well for household spending.

Meanwhile, in other news, Korea and Indonesia agreed to a free-trade deal in late November, which is expected to be ratified next year. The deal plans to eliminate tariffs on steel and automobiles, which should benefit Korean manufacturers and provide some relief to the external sector.

Market Trend

South Korean vehicles market has been closed to foreign vehicles import until the recent (2012) FTA with EU. The entrance of many new competitors fueled the market growth in these years and the all time record sales had been established in three years in a row in the period 2014-2016, with the record fixed at 1.83 million units.

On 26 March 2017, the U.S. and Korea agreed to revise their bilateral free trade agreement. The agreement—which would improve U.S. access to Korea’s automobile market and require Korea to curb its steel exports to the U.S. in return for an exemption from higher U.S. steel tariffs. The industry continued to assist at the growth of imported vehicles, mainly luxury brands, while in the 2017 and was stable around the 1.8 million units.

In 2019, according to data released by KAMA and KAIDA, the South Korean Car Passenger’s market was marginally negative. Indeed, the Full-year ended with 1.77 million sales, down 1.9% from the previous year.

The market was dominated by Hyundai and Kia, despite in recent years they are losing share. Indeed, from a record 75% of combined share in the 2012, actually they have 67.3%, over 7 points lost. Total domestic brands have been actually just over 80% of market share, down 9 points of share since 2012.

The top imported brands were Mercedes, holding over 4% of market share from 0.1% in 2011, BMW, at 2.5% and Lexus at 0.7%.

Service Solutions

Since 2010, focus2move.com is a specialist in the automotive industry tracking monthly sales for all brands and models in the widest in the World range of countries, actually over 150. From this huge database we can extract data sorted under your own conditions and deliver historical data in excel. 

If you like to receive historical data or to subscribe at monthly update, contact us at kventura@focus2move.com and we will arrange a short video call. By showing you our database and segmentation, we can find together the best solutions for your team.

Rank 2019	Rank 2018	Brand	Sales 2019	Sales December	+/- YTD	Share 2019	Share December
1	1	Hyundai	675.402	64.732	2,4%	38,12%	36,31%
2	2	Kia	516.171	45.843	-2,9%	29,14%	25,71%
3	3	SsangYong	107.949	8.432	-1,1%	6,09%	4,73%
4	5	Renault Samsung	86.755	9.876	-4,0%	4,90%	5,54%
5	6	Mercedes	78.036	8.324	10,2%	4,40%	4,67%
6	4	Chevrolet	76.520	5.618	-18,0%	4,32%	3,15%
7	7	Genesis	56.696	4.600	-7,6%	3,20%	2,58%
8	8	BMW	44.191	5.130	-13,1%	2,49%	2,88%
9	11	Lexus	12.241	840	-8,2%	0,69%	0,47%
10	12	Audi	11.930	2.302	-4,2%	0,67%	1,29%
11	18	Jeep	10.706	1.092	41,1%	0,60%	0,61%
12	9	Toyota	10.611	1.323	-36,7%	0,60%	0,74%
13	16	Volvo	10.570	765	24,0%	0,60%	0,43%
14	30	Chrysler	10.251	10.251		0,58%	5,75%
15	15	Mini	10.222	1.274	11,2%	0,58%	0,71%
16	17	Honda	8.760	1.045	10,1%	0,49%	0,59%
17	14	Ford	8.737	1.228	-24,6%	0,49%	0,69%
18	10	Volkswagen	8.510	2.804	-44,7%	0,48%	1,57%
19	13	Land Rover	7.713	982	-34,5%	0,44%	0,55%
20	21	Porsche	4.204	390	-1,9%	0,24%	0,22%
21	20	Peugeot	3.505	297	-21,7%	0,20%	0,17%
22	19	Nissan	3.049	324	-39,7%	0,17%	0,18%
23	22	Jaguar	2.484	201	-32,9%	0,14%	0,11%
24	23	Infiniti	2.000	138	-6,1%	0,11%	0,08%
25	24	Cadillac	1.714	172	-18,4%	0,10%	0,10%
26	25	Maserati	1.260	147	-24,1%	0,07%	0,08%
27	26	Citroen	962	126	-8,6%	0,05%	0,07%
28	29	Lamborghini	173	18	1472,7%	0,01%	0,01%
29	28	Rolls-Royce	161	11	30,9%	0,01%	0,01%
30	27	Bentley	129	11	-40,0%	0,01%	0,01%

Rank 2019	Rank 2018	Group	Sales 2019	Sales December	+/- 2019	Share 2019	Share December
1	1	Hyundai-Kia	1.248.269	115175	-0,4%	70,61%	64,60%
2	2	Mahindra Group	107.949	8432	-1,1%	6,11%	4,73%
3	3	Renault Nissan Alliance	91.804	10338	-5,9%	5,19%	5,80%
4	4	General Motors	78.234	5790	-18,0%	4,43%	3,25%
5	5	Mercedes Daimler	78.036	8324	10,2%	4,41%	4,67%
6	6	BMW	54.574	6415	-9,3%	3,09%	3,60%
7	7	Volkswagen Group	24.946	5525	-22,9%	1,41%	3,10%
8	8	Toyota Group	22.852	2163	-24,1%	1,29%	1,21%
9	11	F.C.A.	22.217	11490	140,2%	1,26%	6,44%
10	12	Geely Group	10.570	765	24,0%	0,60%	0,43%

Economic Environment

South Korean economic growth decelerated significantly in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, although this was partly due to a high base effect. The slowdown in Q3 was most evident in fixed investment. In terms of the fourth and final quarter of 2018, the economy has shown mixed signs so far. In December, the Bank of Korea’s business confidence survey posted the most pessimistic reading since January 2017, boding poorly for fixed investment.

Turning to next year, higher government spending should support economic activity. Moreover, although monetary policy will be tighter, it will remain accommodative by historical standards. However, significant global trade tensions, an economic slowdown in China and elevated domestic household debt threaten the outlook.

Market Trend

On 26 March 2017, the U.S. and Korea agreed to revise their bilateral free trade agreement. The agreement—which would improve U.S. access to Korea’s automobile market and require Korea to curb its steel exports to the U.S. in return for an exemption from higher U.S. steel tariffs

South Korean vehicles market has been closed to foreign vehicles import until the recent (2012) FTA with EU. The entrance of many new competitors fueled the market growth in these years and the all time record sales had been established in three years in a row, with 2016 above 1.8 million units. In the 2017 the market was penalized by a slow start of the year and the second half recovery was not enough to break a new record again, with light vehicles sales ended at 1.814.399 units (-1.1%), the third best performance ever.

According to data released by KAMA and KAIDA, in the 2018 the South Korean Car Passenger’s market is stable. Indeed, the year ended with 1.806.609 units sold, improving 1.3% from last year. Thus, the market is back on track after the marginal fall registered in 2017.

Sales 2014	Sales 2015	Sales 2016	Sales 2017	Sales 2018	'+/- 2018
1.613.323	1.824.288	1.834.784	1.784.037	1.806.609	1,3%

Competitive Arena

Brand-wise, Hyundai is the 2018 market leader having 659.743 units (-0.8%). Kia is following with 531.700 (+1.9%).

In third place SsangYong with 109.140 units (+2.3%) followed by GM Korea (Chevrolet in the table) with 93.317 (-29.5%), Renault Samsung with 90.369 (-10.1%), Mercedes with 70.798 (+2.8%), Genesis with 61.335 (+158.8%) and BMW with 50.824 (-14.8%).

At model-wise, the 2018 best-selling car is the Hyundai Grandeur, for the second consecutive time, with 113.101 sales (-14.4%) followed by the Hyundai Santa Fe with 107.202 (+107.5%) and the Hyundai Porter with 97.995 (-3.4%).

The list of top 100 models in this and recent years is in the dedicated section.

Research, Consulting, Data & Forecast

F2M covers intensively this market with several products developed to help any investigation required. Market Researches in PDF are immediately available for download with study on the market since 2005 and with forecast up to the 2025. AutoData in EXCEL are immediately downloadable with annual sales volume, split by month, for all brands and all models distributed in the market. This year data are released year to date, but you will receive a monthly update until the year-end.  See details within South Korea Corner Store.

Rank 2018	Rank 2017		Sales 2018	Sales 2017	'+/- 2018
1	1	Hyundai	659.743	665.245	-0,8%
2	2	Kia	531.700	521.550	1,9%
3	4	SsangYong	109.140	106.677	2,3%
4	3	Chevrolet	93.317	132.377	-29,5%
5	5	Renault Samsung	90.369	100.536	-10,1%
6	6	Mercedes	70.798	68.861	2,8%
7	8	Genesis	61.335	23.704	158,8%
8	7	BMW	50.824	59.624	-14,8%
9	10	Toyota	16.774	11.698	43,4%
10	29	Volkswagen	15.390	-
11	9	Lexus	13.340	12.603	5,8%
12	25	Audi	12.450	962	1194,2%
13	12	Land Rover	11.772	10.740	9,6%
14	11	Ford	11.586	11.586	0,0%
15	14	Mini	9.191	9.562	-3,9%
16	16	Volvo	8.524	6.604	29,1%
17	13	Honda	7.956	10.299	-22,7%
18	29	Jeep	7.590	-
19	17	Nissan	5.053	6.285	-19,6%
20	19	Peugeot	4.478	3.697	21,1%

Rank 2018	Rank 2017	Model	Sales 2018	Sales 2017	'+/- 2018
1	1	Hyundai Grandeur	113.101	132.080	-14,4%
2	10	Hyundai Santa fe	107.202	51.661	107,5%
3	2	Hyundai Porter	97.995	101.423	-3,4%
4	7	Kia Carnival	76.362	68.386	11,7%
5	3	Hyundai Avante	75.831	83.861	-9,6%
6	5	Kia Sorento	67.200	78.458	-14,3%
7	4	Hyundai Sonata	65.846	82.703	-20,4%
8	8	Kia Bongo	59.254	62.184	-4,7%
9	6	Kia Morning	59.042	70.437	-16,2%
10	26	Hyundai Kona	50.468	23.522	114,6%
11	14	Hyundai Grand Starex	50.180	45.776	9,6%
12	18	Kia K5	48.503	38.184	27,0%
13	22	Kia K3	44.514	28.165	58,0%
14	9	Ssangyong Tivoli	43.897	55.280	-20,6%
15	13	Hyundai Tucson	42.623	46.416	-8,2%
16	27	SsangYong Korando Sports	42.021	22.912	83,4%
17	12	Kia K7	40.978	46.578	-12,0%
18	11	Chevrolet Spark	39.868	47.244	-15,6%
19	21	Mercedes E Class	38.568	32.414	19,0%
20	15	Kia Sportage	37.403	42.232	-11,4%
21	16	Genesis G80	37.219	39.762	-6,4%
22	24	BMW 5 Series	35.003	24.119	45,1%
23	23	Samsung QM6	32.999	27.837	18,5%
24	19	Hyundai H-1 Truck	31.237	35.368	-11,7%
25	28	Kia Ray	27.021	20.521	31,7%
26	17	Samsung SM6	24.800	39.389	-37,0%
27	25	Kia Niro	22.811	23.647	-3,5%
28	20	Chevrolet Malibu	17.052	33.325	-48,8%
29	30	SsangYong G4 Rexton	16.674	16.381	1,8%
30	39	Kia Stonic	16.305	9.133	78,5%

Market Outlook

Korea’s bleak outlook, fueled both by weakening fundamentals and the country’s political fallout, also hit operating conditions and economic sentiment in November, as reflected in the PMI, which remained firmly entrenched below the 50-point threshold, and in consumer confidence, which plunged to a seven-year low.

As regard the domestic vehicles sales in 2016, the market recorded for the 2nd consecutive year over 1.8 million units, although the registrations declined sharply throughout the second semester.

Indeed, according to data released by KAMA and KAIDA, the two South Korean Associations of Automotive Manufacturers, in December the vehicles passengers had been 184.968, down 7.6%.

In the full year the vehicles passengers had been 1.812.079 (-0.7%), not beating the previous all time record established in 2015 for only 12.200 units.

Competitive Arena

In the 2016 Hyundai was on top posting over 654.000 units (-8.3%), while among the highest growths of the year had been scored by Honda, Land Rover, Renault Samsung, Lexus, Ford and Mercedes. The best performances were reported by Citroen (+162.9%).

Volkswagen hit the sharpest slowdown, losing 63.2%, followed by other lost at lower level for Audi, Peugeot, Lincoln, and Porsche.

At model wise, the Hyundai Porter was the leader with 96.950 sales (-2.8%)  followed by the Hyundai Avante with 93.804 units (-6.6%) and the Hyundai Sonata with 82.203 (-24.2%).

The Kia K7 and Chevrolet Malibu shined improving respectively 169.5% at 56.060 units and 123.8% at 36.658 sales.

The detailed report on the best-selling cars, with top 100 models score see the report dedicated.

Research, Consulting, Data & Forecast Store

F2M covers intensively this market with several products developed to help any investigation required.

Market Researches in PDF are immediately available for download with study on the market since 2005 and with forecast up to the 2022.

Auto Data in EXCEL are immediately downloadable with annual sales volume, split by month, for all brands and all models distributed in the market. This year data are released year to date, but you will receive a monthly update until the year-end.

All these and more within our South Korea Corner Store.

Below, you can sort our interactive tables to see data regarding Brands, Groups and Models. Please bear in mind that sales data are subject to adjustments as sources will update their information. This report is updated at the publishing date and will not be modified while the next on this subject will always have the year to date data updated.

Rank Dec	Rank 2016	BRAND	Sales December	Sales 2016 FY	Variation December	Variation 2016 FY	Share December	Share 2016
1	1	Hyundai	71.109	654.738	-13,3%	-8,3%	38,4%	35,7%
2	2	Kia	49.600	535.001	-7,0%	1,4%	26,8%	29,2%
3	3	Chevrolet	18.313	182.075	0,1%	14,9%	9,9%	9,9%
4	4	Renault Samsung	14.078	111.101	37,5%	38,8%	7,6%	6,1%
5	5	SsangYong	10.700	103.554	-5,7%	3,9%	5,8%	5,6%
7	6	Mercedes	5.625	56.343	13,6%	19,9%	3,0%	3,1%
6	7	BMW	5.834	48.459	11,7%	1,2%	3,2%	2,6%
9	8	Genesis	1.052	23.328			0,6%	1,3%
19	9	Audi	236	16.718	-91,8%	-48,7%	0,1%	0,9%
	10	Volkswagen		13.178	-100,0%	-63,2%	0,0%	0,7%
11	11	Land Rover	962	10.601	-27,0%	45,9%	0,5%	0,6%
8	12	Lexus	1.424	10.594	23,1%	33,2%	0,8%	0,6%
12	13	Ford	909	9.593	36,7%	27,8%	0,5%	0,5%
10	14	Toyota	971	9.265	7,3%	18,4%	0,5%	0,5%
13	15	Mini	604	8.632	-20,9%	15,2%	0,3%	0,5%
17	16	Honda	482	6.636	63,4%	47,1%	0,3%	0,4%
14	17	Nissan	527	5.733	-15,0%	-0,1%	0,3%	0,3%
18	18	Volvo	466	5.206	28,4%	22,8%	0,3%	0,3%
16	19	Jeep	500	5.092	-11,3%	4,1%	0,3%	0,3%
15	20	Jaguar	506	3.798	52,4%	35,0%	0,3%	0,2%
20	21	Peugeot	214	3.622	-33,5%	-48,3%	0,1%	0,2%
23	22	Infiniti	158	3.201	-64,7%	7,7%	0,1%	0,2%
25	23	Porsche	101	3.187	-45,7%	-17,4%	0,1%	0,2%
	24	Lincoln		1.627	-100,0%	-42,7%		0,1%
22	25	Citroen	171	876	307,1%	162,9%	0,1%
21	26	Chrysler	213	867	-68,9%	-55,1%	0,1%
24	27	Cadillac	131	794	4,0%	-10,4%	0,1%
26	28	Fiat	70	658	-2,8%	7,0%
29	29	Bentley	1	170	-96,0%	-55,8%
	30	DS		64	-100,0%	-71,6%
28	31	Rolls-Royce	5	53	-44,4%	-15,9%
27	32	Lamborghini	7	20

Rank Dec	Rank 2016	GROUP	Sales December	Sales 2016 FY	Variation December	Variation 2016 FY	Share December	Share 2016 FY
1	1	Hyundai-Kia	121.761	1.213.067	-10,1%	-2,3%	65,8%	66,1%
2	2	General Motors	18.444	182.869	0,2%	14,8%	10,0%	10,0%
3	3	Renault-Nissan	14.763	120.035	30,6%	35,3%	8,0%	6,5%
4	4	Mahindra Group	10.700	103.554	-5,7%	3,9%	5,8%	5,6%
5	5	BMW	6.443	57.144	7,4%	3,1%	3,5%	3,1%
6	6	Mercedes Daimler	5.625	56.343	13,6%	19,9%	3,0%	3,1%
14	7	Volkswagen	345	33.273	-94,0%	-54,2%	0,2%	1,8%
7	8	Toyota	2.395	19.859	16,1%	25,8%	1,3%	1,1%
8	9	Tata	1.468	14.399	-11,0%	42,8%	0,8%	0,8%
9	10	Ford	909	11.220	-10,3%	8,4%	0,5%	0,6%

Rank Dec	Rank 2016	Model	Sales December	Sales 2016	Variation December	Variation 2016
1	1	HYUNDAI AVANTE	13.454	99.459	0,0%	-1,0%
2	3	Hyundai Sonata	12.678	87.624	0,0%	-19,2%
3	4	Hyundai Santa fe	12.189	80.588	0,0%	-13,3%
4	9	Hyundai Grandeur	11.200	62.686	0,0%	-28,1%
5	7	Kia Morning	10.057	77.009	0,0%	-12,9%
6	12	Kia Sportage	9.541	55.614	0,0%	5,5%
7	2	Hyundai Porter	8.416	95.393	0,0%	-4,4%
8	16	Kia K5	8.079	49.324	0,0%	-15,9%
9	6	Chevrolet Spark	6.879	77.835	0,0%	32,0%
10	5	Kia Sorento	6.201	79.624	0,0%	2,4%
11	18	Hyundai Genesis	5.972	44.679	0,0%	14,8%
12	13	Hyundai Tucson	5.736	52.526	0,0%	-8,5%
13	10	Ssangyong Tivoli	5.212	56.534	0,0%	25,6%
14	8	Kia Carnival	4.825	64.971	0,0%	-3,8%
15	11	Kia Bongo	4.191	55.899	0,0%	-9,6%
16	17	Hyundai Grand Starex	3.816	45.610	0,0%	-5,7%
17	19	Kia K3	3.611	36.926	0,0%	-13,9%
18	26	Samsung QM3	3.018	16.302	0,0%	-33,6%
19	29	Chevrolet Impala	2.699	13.533	0,0%	95,8%
20	27	Hyundai Accent	2.657	14.760	0,0%	-19,3%
21	24	Mercedes E Class	2.643	18.588	0,0%	-5,4%
22	23	Kia Ray	2.599	20.958	0,0%	-19,3%
23	21	SsangYong Korando Sports	2.578	26.010	0,0%	0,4%
24	43	Samsung SM5	2.553	8.484	0,0%	-64,5%
25	32	Kia Pride	2.402	12.995	0,0%	-34,0%

Economic Outlook

Revised data confirm that the Korean economy rebounded in Q3, with GDP expanding 2.7% annually. Growth was driven by strong domestic dynamics, although the external sector continues to be a major drag. Moreover, recent data suggest that the economy will struggle to gain further momentum in Q4.

Consumer confidence reached an over-one-year high in November. However, exports contracted again in November, the manufacturing PMI stagnated in contraction territory in the same month and business confidence remained stuck in pessimistic territory in December amid a deterioration in sentiment among export-oriented firms.

The boost from fiscal stimulus measures introduced by the government earlier in the year is fading and exports, which represent roughly half of Korea’s GDP, are unlikely to recover soon as China and other emerging market slow.

Market Outlook

In December light vehicles sales has taken the momentum posting the 16th Year-on-year increase and ending the year with a huge increase over the 2014 and at the new all time record level. In addition, December was the first month ever with sales volume above the 200.000 units.

As released by KAMA and KAIDA, the two South Korean Associations of Automotive Manufacturers, in December  new light vehicles sales had been 200.233, up a majestic 25.1% lifting the full year figures at 1.824.288, up 13.1% from the 2014, new all time record volume, first time above the 1.8 million units.

Korean market in the 2015 ranked for the first time ever within the World’s Top 10 markets, gaining 1 spot from the previous year.

During the 2015 Hyundai has sold 714.121 units (+9.5%) new record with 39.1% of market share and was followed by Kia with 527.500 (+11.6%) and 28.9% of market share, at new record, of course.

GM Korea (Chevrolet plus Daewoo) was third with 158.404 (+10.3%) ahead of SsangYong with record volume at 99.664 sales (+45.2%) Renault Samsung with 80.017 (-0.5%), BMW with 47.874 (+18.7%) and Mercedes with 46.993 (+31.6%).

As far as the ranking by group, Hyundai Kia on top reported a market share declining at 68.1% followed by General Motors at 8.7% and Mahindra Group at 5.5%

The best-selling model was the Hyundai Sonata with 108.438 units (+0.4%) followed by the Hyundai Avante with 100.422 (+7.0%) and the Hyundai Porter with 99.743 (+4.2%). Kia Sorento in 7th place reported a +104.0% in sales while Samsung SM7 in 41st was up 80%

To see the detailed report on the best-selling cars, with top 100 models score in the 2015, see the report dedicated.

Research, Consulting, Data & Forecast Store

F2M covers intensively this market with several products developed to help any investigation required.

Market Researches in PDF are immediately available for download with study on the market since 2005 and with forecast up to the 2020.

Auto Data in EXCEL are immediately downloadable with annual sales volume, split by month, for all brands and all models distributed in the market. This year data are released year to date, but you will receive a monthly update until the year-end.

All these and more within our South Korea Store.

Below, you can sort our interactive tables to see data regarding Brands, Groups and Models. Please bear in mind that sales data are subject to adjustments as sources will update their information. This report is updated at the publishing date and will not be modified while the next on this subject will always have the year to date data updated.