Domestic sales by South Korea’s five main automakers combined increased by 1% to 110,926 units in July 2025 from 109,924 units a year earlier, according to preliminary wholesale data released individually by the manufacturers. The data do not include sales by South Korea’s low-volume commercial vehicle manufacturers including Tata-Daewoo and Edison Motors, while import brands are covered in a separate report later in the month.
The domestic vehicle market last month continued to be supported by the recent rollout of new products, particularly by the country’s largest automakers Hyundai and Kia. Overall vehicle demand in the country remains sluggish, however, due to high household debt and weak consumer sentiment. The country’s GDP expanded by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to preliminary government data, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first quarter, helped by a further 25 basis point interest rate cut to 2.50% in May – the fourth cut in the last year from a peak of 3.50%.
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In the first seven months of the year the country’s five main domestic vehicle manufacturers reported a 2.5% increase in domestic sales to 799,353 units combined, up from 779,516 units in the same period last year. Hyundai reported a 2.3% rise to 411,127 units, while Kia’s sales increased just slightly to 321,440 units. GM Korea was the worst performer, with sales plunging by 40% to 9,347 units, while KG Mobility reported a 19% drop to 22,777 units. Renault Korea was the best performing brand, with domestic sales surging by 153% to 32,065 units following the recent launch of the Geely-based Grand Koleos Hybrid SUV.
Global sales by the country’s “big-five” automakers, including vehicles produced overseas, increased by less than 1% to 4,650,796 units in the first seven months of 2025 from 4,619,077 units a year earlier – with overseas sales also up slightly to 3,851,443 from 3,837,223 units.
Hyundai Motor’s global sales rose by just 0.5% to 334,794 vehicles in July 2025 from 333,294 a year earlier, with domestic and overseas sales both slightly higher. In the first seven months of the year the company sold a total of 2,401,786 vehicles, slightly higher than the 2,397,138 units sold in the same period last year.
Domestic sales rose by 0.4% to 56,227 units last month from 56,009 a year earlier, resulting in a 2.3% increase to 411,127 units in the first seven months of the year from 401,713 previously. Overseas sales increased by 0.5% to 278,567 units in July from 277,285 units a year earlier, while year-to-date volumes were down slightly to 1,990,092 from 1,995,695 units, underpinned by strong sales in North America.
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By GlobalDataThe company’s new EV plant in the US state of Georgia became operational last October, producing the Ioniq 5, followed by the Ioniq 9 earlier this year. A Kia model is also set to go into production in 2026. The automaker said it will expand capacity at the plant to 500,000 units per year later in the decade from 300,000 at present.
Earlier this year Hyundai set a target of 4,174,000 global vehicle sales for 2025, including its Genesis luxury brand, representing a slight increase over 2024 volumes. This includes 710,000 domestic sales and 3,464,000 overseas sales. In response to the recent US import duty hikes and rising international competition, the automaker said it will “continue to respond flexibly to customer demand and implement optimal sales strategies, including production optimization for high-demand models and making improvements for other key models.”
Kia’s global sales increased just slightly to 262,705 vehicles in July from 261,798 a year earlier, supported by recently-launched battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid models, and strong demand for core SUV models such as the Sportage and Seltos, with 46,901 and 28,538 deliveries respectively, and the Sorento with 17,852 units. In the first seven months of the year, Kia’s global sales rose by 1.8% to 1,850,241 units from 1,817,495 a year earlier.
Domestic sales declined by 2.2% to 45,017 units last month from 46,010 units a year earlier, with the Carnival MPV being its best-selling model with 7,211 domestic deliveries, followed by the Sorento with 7,053 sales and the Sportage with 5,424 units. Domestic sales in the first seven months of the year increased slightly to 321,440 units from 321,250 a year earlier. The company sold a further 2,597 special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in this period, down from 2,655 a year earlier, most of which were military vehicles delivered domestically.
Overseas sales rose by 1% to 217,188 units in July from 215,188 a year earlier, but were up by over 2% to 1,526,204 units year-to-date from 1,493,590 units, driven by an 8% rise in US sales to 487,634units. The Sportage was the brand’s best-selling model overseas last month with 41,477 deliveries, followed by the Seltos with 23,617 units.
Kia is targeting a 4% increase in global sales to 3,216,200 units in 2025, including 550,000 domestic sales, 2,658,000 overseas sales and 8,200 SPV sales, supported by the recent launch of the new K4 and revamped K5 sedans and the Syros SUV in India. In the first quarter of the year the company rolled out its new Tasman pickup truck and the EV4 battery-powered sedan, to be followed by the PV5 and EV5 models later this year. The company’s medium-term plan is to sell 4.3 million vehicles globally by 2030, including 1.6 million BEVs.
GM Korea’s global sales rose by 23% to 32,244 units in July from 22,564 units a year earlier, reflecting sharply higher overseas sales, while in the first seven months of the year volumes dropped by 3.6% to 281,599 from 291,986 units. The Trailblazer SUV and Trax crossover vehicle remain by far the company’s best-selling models, with most output shipped overseas.
Domestic sales continued to plunge last month, by 44% to 1,226 units from 2,199 units a year earlier, while year-to-date sales were down by 40 % to 9,347 units from 15,656 units – as the automaker struggled with rising competition from other domestic manufacturers and from importers.
Exports surged by 52% to 31,018 units in July from 20,412 a year earlier, but we down by 1.4% to 272,252 units year-to-date from 276,377 units. Around 85% of output was shipped to the US last year, making the company particularly vulnerable to US import tariff hikes.
KG Mobility (KGM) reported a 16% increase in global sales to 9,620 vehicles in July from 8,313 units a year earlier, driven by strong domestic sales which more than offset a sharp decline in exports. Total sales in the first seven months of the year were still 3% lower at 62,892 units, compared with 64,878 a year earlier. The company, previously known as Ssangyong Motor, was acquired in late 2022 by a consortium led by local steel and chemicals firm KG Group.
Domestic sales rose by 5% to 4,456 units last month from 4,237 a year earlier, helped by the recently launched Actyon Hybrid, but were still down by 19% at 22,777 units year-to-date from 28,215 units, as the automaker struggled to keep up with rising competition from other domestic manufacturers and from importers.
Overseas sales increased by 27% to 5,164 in July from 4,076 a year earlier, helped by strong deliveries of its Torres EVX in Turkey. This resulted in a 9% rise to 40,115 units year-to-date from 36,663 units a year earlier, as the company continued to expand its global market coverage.
KGM plans to further expand its zero-emissions vehicle range, following the launch of a new minivan version of the Torres EVX battery-powered SUV last September. Earlier this year the company launched the new battery-powered Musso EV pickup truck.
