Domestic sales among South Korea’s five main automakers increased by 2.7% to 121,416 vehicles in March, from 118,212 units a year earlier, according to data released by the country’s mainstream vehicle manufacturers.

The data does not include sales of the low volume, commercial vehicle manufacturers, such as Tata-Daewoo and Daewoo Bus Corporation.

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Global sales among the South Korean ‘big five’ increased by 8.4% to 788,994 units last month, from 727,714 units a year earlier, with Kia and Hyundai both reporting particularly strong overseas sales. 

Hyundai Motor reported a 3.1% year-on-year rise in domestic sales to 57,812 units in March, with a three-fold rise in sales of its revamped Genesis passenger car helping to drive overall volumes higher. Overseas sales increased by almost 12% to 373,720 units, also helped by the availability of new models. Global sales increased by 10.6% to 431,532 units. 

Kia Motors reported a 1.3% decline in domestic sales to 39,005 units in March, from 39,500 units a year earlier, while overseas sales jumped by 18.5% to 232,997 units, from 186,576 units previously. The company said its Forte and Optima passenger cars and the Sportage SUV performed exceptionally well overseas. Global sales were 18.5% higher at 232,997 units.

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GM Korea’s domestic sales increased by 1.5% to 13,161 units in March, helped by buoyant demand for the Cruze, Malibu and Spark models. Overseas sales continued to plummet however, by 26% to 48,285 units, driving down global sales by over 21% to 61,446 units.

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Ssangyong reported a 23% rise in global sales to 13,232 units in March, including 5,850 domestic sales and 7,382 overseas sales.

Renault-Samsung, the smallest of big five, reported flat global sales of 10,782 units for the same month, with domestic sales rising by 13.5% to 4,821 units – reflecting “solid demand” for the SM7, QM5 Neo and QM3 models.

South Korean carmakers: domestic/overseas sales by brand, March 2014

 

Domestic

Overseas

Global

Hyundai

57,812

373,720

431,532

Kia

39,005

232,997

272,002

GM Korea

13,161

48,285

61,446

Ssangyong

5,850

7,382

13,232

Renault-Samsung

5,588

5,194

10,782

Total

121,416

667,578

788,994

Source: industry sources, AsiaMotorBusiness.com