Domestic car sales in the first month of the new year saw a dramatic drop. January sales of domestic cars decreased by 23.4% compared to December. Among all brands, only SsangYong experienced an increase due to the Torres effect.
Hyundai sold 43,148 units, a decline of 21.4% compared to the previous month’s 54,932 units. The new Grandeur recorded 9,131 units, which is a slight increase of 2.4% compared to 8,917 units last month. The Porter sold 6,591 units, down by 28% from 9,242 units last month. The Avante had a sales figure of 6,100, marking a decrease of 25.9%.
Genesis saw a significant drop in sales with 8,355 units sold, down 45.1% from the previous month’s 15,205 units. The G80 recorded 4,057 units, a decrease of 16.1% from 4,833 units last month. The GV80 had sales of 1,881 units, down 47.4%, while the GV70 sold only 1,149 units, reflecting a drastic decrease of 67.9%.
Kia reported a total of 38,753 units sold, down 23.3% from 50,536 units the previous month. The Carnival sold 6,904 units (down 5.7%), the Sportage 5,492 units (down 11.4%), and the Sorento saw a sharp decline of 37.6% with only 4,611 units sold.
SsangYong recorded 7,130 units sold, representing a 29.2% increase compared to 5,520 units from the previous month, making it the only domestic carmaker to show sales growth. This is attributed to the Torres effect, which saw 5,444 units sold, an astonishing rise of 83.1% from 2,974 units last month. The Rexton Sports saw sales drop to 698 units, down from 1,414 units the previous month. The Tivoli managed to increase its sales to 632 units, up 8.4% compared to 583 units last month.
Renault Korea recorded sales of 2,116 units, a steep decline of 34.8% from the previous month’s 3,243 units. The XM3 sold 1,019 units (down 37%), the QM6 sold 877 units (down 29.7%), and the SM6 had 220 units sold (down 38%).
Chevrolet’s sales totaled 1,021 units, down 44.5% from 1,839 units last month. The Trailblazer saw a drop to 430 units (down 43.7%), while the Spark recorded 310 units, down 36.5% from 488 units last month. The Traverse sold merely 80 units, a 52% decrease from 167 units.
Isangjin daedusj@autodiary.kr