Domestic vehicle sales in South Korea increased by 1.3% to 127,319 units in July, from 125,687 units in the same month of last year, according to sources within the country’s automotive industry.
Hyundai led the domestic market last month with 59,640 sales, up just 0.6% year-on-year with the Sonata and Grandeur its two best-selling models. Second-placed Kia sold 43,324 vehicles, with the Carnival [Sedona] by far its best-selling model.
Go deeper with GlobalData
GM Korea reported flat sales last month at 13,307 units, underpinned by a 4% rise in sales of the Spark mini-car to 5,085 units. Renault-Samsung’s sales were 18.7% higher at 6,040 units, while Ssangyong’s sales amounted to 6,027 units.
Cumulative seven-month sales increased by 4% to 834,662 units, from 802,594 units in the same period of last year.
Sales of imported vehicles accounted for a further 18,011 units in July, which represents a 21.1% increase on the 14,953 units sold in July of last year. Cumulative seven-month sales of imported cars increased by 25.6% to 112,375 units.
European brands accounted for 81.8% of total imported sales in July, led by BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen group. Japanese brands accounted for 10.8% of sales and US brands 7.4%.
