Domestic sales among South Korea’s five main automakers increased by 7.7% to 121,221 units in June, from 112,595 units sold in the same month of last year, 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” reached 733,656 units last month, including vehicles produced domestically and abroad, with overseas sales amounting to 612,435 units.
Hyundai Motor reported a 7.9% rise in domestic sales to 59,915 units in June, from 55,548 units a year earlier, driven by strong demand for its passenger cars and commercial vehicles – which increased by 12.3% and 12.7% respectively. Sales of SUVs fell by 6.2% to 12,673 units, however. Sales of the revamped Sonata and the new Genesis models continue to grow strongly.
Hyundai’s global sales increased by 1.2% to 412,648 units last month, with overseas sales just 0.2% higher at 352,733 units. Exports fell by 8.5% to 101,240 units, while overseas production increased by 4.1% to 251,493 units.
In the first half of the year, Hyundai’s domestic sales increased by over 6% to 346,434 units. Global sales increased by 4.4% to 2,496,375 units, while overseas sales were up by 4.1% at 2,149,941 units.
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By GlobalDataKia Motors’ domestic sales fell by 5.8% year-on-year to 35,502 in June, with the recent new model releases by Hyundai affecting demand for the brand. The imminent launch of the new Carnival and Sorrento models are expected to help revive Kia’s domestic performance in the second half of the year.
Kia’s overseas sales rose by 5.2% to 209,732 units, bringing global sales to 245,234 units, helped by growing output at its overseas plants – which reached 104,250 units last month. Models such as the Forte (K3), Optima (K5) and Sportage were particularly popular overseas.
In the first half of the year, Kia’s global sales increased by over 7% to 1,547,040 units, with a 9% increase in overseas sales to 1,328,276 units and a 3.4% drop in domestic sales to 218,764 units.
GM Korea reported a 26.8% drop in global sales to 51,445 units in June, from 70,237 units a year earlier, reflecting sharply lower overseas sales. Domestic sales increased by 19.4% to 12,132 units, helped by the new Aveo and Spark models, while overseas sales were 34.6% lower at 39,313 units.
Cumulative six-month sales were down by 18.5% to 327,280 units, despite a 10.4% rise in domestic sales to 71,958 units.
Ssangyong Motor reported a 7.6% drop in global sales to 11,852 units in June, reflecting depressed domestic and overseas sales – with demand in Russia particularly weak. Domestic sales fell by around 8% to 5,157 units.
Renault-Samsung’s global sales increased by almost 34% to 11,471 units in June, from 8,433 units a year earlier. Domestic sales almost doubled to 8,515 units, thanks to strong demand for the QM3 and QM5 SUVs and the SM3 sub-compact car. Overseas sales fell by 26.3% to 2,956 units, however.
South Korean carmakers: domestic/overseas sales by brand, June 2014
| Domestic | Overseas | Global | |
| Hyundai | 59915 | 352733 | 412648 |
| Kia | 35502 | 209732 | 245234 |
| GM Korea | 12132 | 39313 | 51445 |
| Ssangyong | 5157 | 7701 | 12858 |
| Renault-Samsung | 8515 | 2956 | 11471 |
| Total | 121221 | 612435 | 733656 |
Source: industry sources, www.AsiaMotorBusiness.com
