In March, 11,873 vehicles were sold in South Korea, down 21.4% from 149,71 units in the same period last year. In the case of the continued shortage of semiconductors, after the urban blockade caused by the re-spread of the new crown epidemic in China, the supply and demand problems of components such as wiring harnesses have been problematic.
Last month, Kia beat Hyundai for the first time in two months to take the top spot in the South Korean auto market. Kia's SUVs and MPVs, such as Sorento, Sportage, and Jawa, performed well. However, they were unable to defeat Hyundai Yazun, who began the full operation of the plant after completing the maintenance of the production line.
Caption: Kia Sorento
Kia sold 45,066 units, up 13.9 percent from the previous year, beating Hyundai to regain top spot in two months.
Following popular models such as Sorento (5435 units), Sportage (4919 units), Andrwa (4065 units), the KX3 (4266 units) also achieved its best results since June 2020 (5536 units).
Sales growth of small cars such as the Ray (3,566 units) and morning (3,559 units) also attracted attention. Last month, when GM resumed production at its Changwon plant in South Korea, Sales of the Chevrolet Spark rose sharply, and Hyundai's Casper also rose steadily.
The Bongo (4,608 units), K3 (2020 units), K5 (2,642 units), K8 (2,722 units) and other sedan lineups have maintained stable sales and achieved good results. In addition, the unsubsized EV6 (2,689 units) also helped Kia become number one.
Photo note: Yazun hybrid
Hyundai motor vehicles sold 42,052 units in March, down 29.6% from March last year. Despite a sharp decline in sales and being overtaken by Kia, Yazun still maintained face and firmly ranked first in the Korean car market.
Ranked first in South Korea in terms of car sales with 6,663 units, Yazun achieved its best performance since December last year (7,740 units). Among them, the sales volume of hybrid models was 2775 units, accounting for 41.6%.
Parristi (4501 units) followed, in addition to casper (3725 units) and Ioniq 5 (3208 units) also performed well, while the existing strong ones such as Sonata (4317 units) and Porter (4708 units) also performed relatively well.
Note: Genisey G80
Denises remained in third place with 108,31 units (-23.0% from the previous year). While overall performance of the flagship model was sluggish, shipments of the G90 and GV60 went well.
Sales of the brand's best-selling model, the G80 (3,967 units), fell for the second consecutive month. Conversely, sales of the flagship Sedan G90 (1897 units) increased significantly. The new G90, which has been officially shipped since February, has reached a record of 12,000 units in just one day of booking due to a major change in appearance and good market positioning, although the price is close to 100 million won. With a total of 20,000 contracts, it is expected to temporarily support Genises' sales.
In addition, subsidies for electric vehicles began to be issued, and the GV60 (685 units), GV70 electric models (94 units), and G80 electric models (327 units) began to be delivered to users.
Caption: SsangYong Motors Rexton Sports Khan
SsangYong Automobile ranked fourth with sales of 5,102 units, up 18.5% from March last year. SsangYong's monthly sales this year exceeded 5,000 units for the first time.
SsangYong Motors' March performance led the way with the launch of new Rest pickups (2,785 units) in January. However, due to the epidemic in China, the supply and demand of semiconductors and components are limited, so sales are not satisfactory. The backlog, including exports, is 13,000 units. For SsangYong Motors, which has not been able to sign a contract with Edison Automobile recently, it is urgent to solve the problem of supply and demand of parts.
In addition, SsangYong's first electric vehicle, the Korando Emotion, delivered to users for the first time in 78 vehicles. The Response from Korando Emotion has been decent, with more than 3,000 units currently booked.
It is reported that SsangYong Automobile plans to receive only 1,000 batteries this year. SsangYong is in discussions with LG to increase battery production, but negotiations have not progressed.
Caption: Renault Samsung QM6
Renault South Korea ranked fifth with 4,464 units, down 21.6 percent. Major models such as the SM6, XM3, and QM6 performed poorly.
The QM6 (2411 units) has barely rebounded since falling below the 3000 level. The XM3 (1524 units) also barely survived. Last month, the 2023 model began to be delivered, but the effect was not great.
In addition, sales of Renault Twizy (81 units) and Zoe (198 units) rebounded as electric vehicle subsidies began to be issued, but the number was not much, so the performance did not have much impact.
Caption: Chevrolet spark
GM Korea sold 3,609 units last month. With the resumption of operations at the Changwon plant, GM Korea successfully rebounded slightly from February (2446 units). Sales of Spark (-1,280 units, -24.4%) produced at the Changwon plant also increased from February last year (622 units). The Trail Blazers (1,750) weren't as good as last year, but there was an increase compared to February last year (1,041).
Starting in the second quarter, Chevrolet is expected to recover across the board. In particular, the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, which have been expected since last year, will begin to be delivered.