South Korea 1998: Daewoo Matiz takes pole position
Daewoo Matiz
* See the Top 40 best-selling local models by clicking on the title! Thanks to Pedro *
The financial crisis hit the South Korean car market with a vengeance: going from 1,512,935 units in 1997 to 779,905 in 1998, a drop of 48%! Small cars are more popular this year with the Daewoo Matiz, just launched, taking the lead with 88,951 sales and 11.4% share and the Hyundai Atos at #2 and 51,931 units or 6.7%.
Hyundai Atos
The Samsung SM5 shines in third position with 41,593 sales and 5.3% ahead of the Hyundai Avante (aka Elantra) at 39,767 and the Hyundai EF Sonata at 36,130 – note the previous generation Sonata also sells 26,964 units at #8. Notice also the Kia Carnival at #6, the Daewoo Leganza at #7, the SsangYong Korando at #17 and the Asia Rocsta at #39.
Previous year: South Korea 1997: Hyundai Accent in the lead
Full Year 1998 Top 40 Ranking Table below.
South Korea Full Year 1998:
| Pos | Model | 1998 | % |
| 1 | Daewoo Matiz | 88,951 | 11.4% |
| 2 | Hyundai Atoz | 51,931 | 6.7% |
| 3 | Samsung SM5 | 41,593 | 5.3% |
| 4 | Hyundai Avante | 39,767 | 5.1% |
| 5 | Hyundai EF Sonata | 36,130 | 4.6% |
| 6 | Kia Carnival | 35,427 | 4.5% |
| 7 | Daewoo Leganza | 33,664 | 4.3% |
| 8 | Hyundai Sonata | 26,964 | 3.5% |
| 9 | Daewoo Nubira | 23,055 | 3.0% |
| 10 | Hyundai Accent | 22,433 | 2.9% |
| 11 | Kia Credos | 16,425 | 2.1% |
| 12 | Daewoo Lanos | 15,863 | 2.0% |
| 13 | Daewoo Tico | 15,639 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Hyundai Galloper | 13,955 | 1.8% |
| 15 | Kia Sephia | 13,948 | 1.8% |
| 16 | Hyundai Santamo | 13,489 | 1.7% |
| 17 | SsangYong Korando | 10,388 | 1.3% |
| 18 | Kia Shuma | 9,171 | 1.2% |
| 19 | SsangYong Musso | 7,900 | 1.0% |
| 20 | Hyundai Grandeur XG | 6,458 | 0.8% |
| 21 | Daewoo Nubira Wagon | 5,394 | 0.7% |
| 22 | Daewoo Prince | 4,844 | 0.6% |
| 23 | Kia Aspire/Avella | 4,638 | 0.6% |
| 24 | Hyundai Marcia | 4,402 | 0.6% |
| 25 | Kia Sportage | 4,095 | 0.5% |
| 26 | Kia Pride | 3,742 | 0.5% |
| 27 | Hyundai Dynasty | 3,645 | 0.5% |
| 28 | SsangYong Chairman | 2,564 | 0.3% |
| 29 | Kia Potentia | 2,094 | 0.3% |
| 30 | Hyundai Grandeur | 1,867 | 0.2% |
| 31 | Kia Entreprise | 1,800 | 0.2% |
| 32 | Hyundai Tiburon | 1,328 | 0.2% |
| 33 | Kia Retona | 1,270 | 0.2% |
| 34 | Kia Pride Wagon | 930 | 0.1% |
| 35 | Daewoo Brougham | 880 | 0.1% |
| 36 | Hyundai Avante Touring | 402 | 0.1% |
| 37 | Daewoo Espero | 342 | 0.0% |
| 38 | Kia Credos II Wagon | 265 | 0.0% |
| 39 | Asia Rocsta | 207 | 0.0% |
| 40 | Kia Elan | 155 | 0.0% |
| 41 | Daewoo Arcadia | 48 | 0.0% |
Note: this ranking excludes imports.
Source: www.interautonews.it, Korea Auto Industries Association Coop., JATO. Many thanks to Florian and Pedro for the data!
old woman Tico)