Domestic sales among South Korea’s five main automakers increased by 7.6% in February to 107,004 units in February, from 99,463 units a year earlier, according to data released by the vehicle manufacturers.
The data does not include sales of small-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 6.7% to 689,172 units, from 645,956 units a year earlier, with Kia Motors reporting particularly strong figures – with volumes rising by over 18%. GM Korea’s overseas sales have been affected by global restructuring – following its parent company’s recent decision to withdraw the Chevrolet brand from Europe.
Hyundai Motor reported an 8.2% rise in domestic sales to 51,380 units, with strong sales of the revamped Genesis and Azera passenger cars driving volumes higher. Overseas sales were 2.7% higher at 327,464 units.
Kia Motors reported a 6.4% increase in domestic sales to 35,000 units, while overseas sales jumped by 20.5% to 207,799 units. Global sales were 18.2% higher at 242,799 units.
GM Korea’s domestic sales increased by 3.3% to 10,301 units in February, helped by buoyant demand for the Chevrolet Cruze, Malibu and Aveo passenger cars. However, a sharp drop in overseas sales, of 18.2% to 37,706 units, meant that global sales fell by 18% to 48,007 units.
Ssangyong reported a 14.3% rise in global sales to 11,805 units, including 5,502 domestic and 6,303 overseas sales. Renault-Samsung, the smallest of big five, reported a 33.5% drop in global sales to 7,717 units in February, despite a 16.7% rise in domestic sales to 4,821 units – reflecting higher demand for the SM3 and QM5 models.
