South Korea 2009: Avante #1, new Sonata sells 60,000 in 4 months
The new Hyundai Sonata launched in South Korea in September 2009.
* See the Top 50 best-selling local models by clicking on the title! Thanks to Pedro *
In 2009, the launch of the new generation Sonata messed up the rankings: the Hyundai Avante takes the lead over the Full Year with sales up 32% to an excellent 115,378 units and just under 10% market share, followed by the Kia Morning (aka Picanto) up 21% to 102,082 sales and 8.7%. The Hyundai NF Sonata loses its #1 spot and falls to third with 85,071 units and 7.2%, down 31%.
Hyundai Avante
However the new generation YF Sonata, launched in September 2009, is off to an amazing start with 61,255 sales in 4 months, including 16,368 in December (by far #1 then), making it #5 over the Full Year. The combined Sonata sales add up to 146,326 units which would place the nameplate #1 in 2009 by a very large margin.
Notice also the Hyundai Santa Fe up 35% and one spot to #7, the Kia Forte up 191% and 10 to #8, the Samsung SM3 up 139% and 5 to #10 and the Daewoo Lacetti Premiere (aka Chevrolet Cruze) up 1878% and 28 ranks to #11 with 43,962 sales. The Kia Sorento R lands directly at #12 with 39,173 units, the Hyundai Tucson ix arrives at #15 and the Daewoo Matiz Creative is #18.
Previous year: South Korea 2008: Hyundai Sonata clear leader, Kia Morning up to #3
Full Year Top 50 and December 2009 Top 10 Ranking Tables below.
South Korea Full Year 2009:
| Pos | Model | 2009 | % | /08 | 2008 | Pos |
| 1 | Hyundai Avante HD | 115,378 | 9.8% | 32% | 87,579 | 2 |
| 2 | Kia New Morning | 102,082 | 8.7% | 21% | 84,177 | 3 |
| 3 | Hyundai NF Sonata | 85,071 | 7.2% | -31% | 123,208 | 1 |
| 4 | Hyundai Grandeur TG | 75,844 | 6.5% | 14% | 66,589 | 4 |
| 5 | Hyundai YF Sonata | 61,255 | 5.2% | new | 0 | - |
| 6 | Samsung SM5 | 61,010 | 5.2% | 10% | 55,640 | 5 |
| 7 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 58,324 | 5.0% | 35% | 43,291 | 8 |
| 8 | Kia Forte | 51,374 | 4.4% | 191% | 17,669 | 18 |
| 9 | Kia Lotze | 49,054 | 4.2% | 12% | 43,958 | 7 |
| 10 | Samsung SM3 | 45,906 | 3.9% | 139% | 19,246 | 15 |
| 11 | Daewoo Lacetti Premiere | 43,962 | 3.7% | 1878% | 2,222 | 39 |
| 12 | Kia Sorento R | 39,173 | 3.3% | new | 0 | - |
| 13 | Hyundai Genesis | 31,212 | 2.7% | 13% | 27,615 | 10 |
| 14 | Kia Sportage | 27,874 | 2.4% | 16% | 23,974 | 12 |
| 15 | Hyundai Tucson ix | 26,108 | 2.2% | new | 0 | - |
| 16 | Kia Carnival | 21,377 | 1.8% | 11% | 19,174 | 16 |
| 17 | Kia Soul | 21,239 | 1.8% | 122% | 9,574 | 25 |
| 18 | Daewoo Matiz Creative | 20,843 | 1.8% | new | 0 | - |
| 19 | Hyundai i30 | 19,681 | 1.7% | -33% | 29,301 | 9 |
| 20 | Kia Pride | 18,532 | 1.6% | -17% | 22,197 | 13 |
| 21 | Hyundai Tucson | 18,340 | 1.6% | -25% | 24,336 | 11 |
| 22 | Samsung SM7 | 18,234 | 1.6% | 19% | 15,263 | 20 |
| 23 | Hyundai Equus | 16,274 | 1.4% | 202% | 5,394 | 36 |
| 24 | Kia Opirus | 13,048 | 1.1% | -15% | 15,280 | 19 |
| 25 | Daewoo Matiz | 12,828 | 1.1% | -74% | 50,126 | 6 |
| 26 | Hyundai Veracruz | 11,926 | 1.0% | 2% | 11,636 | 23 |
| 27 | Daewoo Tosca | 10,537 | 0.9% | -50% | 20,953 | 14 |
| 28 | Daewoo Winstorm | 10,102 | 0.9% | -21% | 12,711 | 21 |
| 29 | Hyundai Verna | 9,815 | 0.8% | 8% | 9,103 | 26 |
| 30 | Kia Carens | 9,681 | 0.8% | -49% | 18,805 | 17 |
| 31 | SsangYong Musso SUT | 8,532 | 0.7% | -21% | 10,739 | 24 |
| 32 | Samsung QM5 | 8,480 | 0.7% | -28% | 11,832 | 22 |
| 33 | Hyundai Genesis Coupé | 7,011 | 0.6% | 246% | 2,025 | 40 |
| 34 | Kia Mohave | 6,420 | 0.5% | -28% | 8,900 | 27 |
| 35 | Hyundai i30 cw | 5,940 | 0.5% | 611% | 835 | 45 |
| 36 | Hyundai Click | 5,788 | 0.5% | -22% | 7,435 | 28 |
| 37 | Kia K7 | 5,640 | 0.5% | new | 0 | - |
| 38 | SsangYong Chairman W | 2,778 | 0.2% | -58% | 6,624 | 31 |
| 39 | Daewoo Gentra-X | 2,722 | 0.2% | -63% | 7,397 | 29 |
| 40 | SsangYong Kyron | 2,695 | 0.2% | -53% | 5,704 | 35 |
| 41 | SsangYong Chairman H | 2,683 | 0.2% | -57% | 6,244 | 32 |
| 42 | SsangYong Rexton | 2,637 | 0.2% | -35% | 4,035 | 38 |
| 43 | SsangYong Actyon | 2,116 | 0.2% | -52% | 4,379 | 37 |
| 44 | Kia Sorento | 1,039 | 0.1% | -83% | 6,137 | 33 |
| 45 | Daewoo Winstorm Maxx | 857 | 0.1% | 1% | 846 | 44 |
| 46 | SsangYong Rodius | 748 | 0.1% | -48% | 1,440 | 41 |
| 47 | Daewoo Lacetti | 501 | 0.0% | -93% | 6,752 | 30 |
| 48 | Daewoo Gentra | 411 | 0.0% | -68% | 1,293 | 42 |
| 49 | Daewoo G2X | 16 | 0.0% | -87% | 119 | 47 |
South Korea December 2009:
| Pos | Model | Dec-09 | % |
| 1 | Hyundai YF Sonata | 16,368 | 12.1% |
| 2 | Hyunadi Avante | 12,324 | 9.1% |
| 3 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 8,016 | 5.9% |
| 4 | Kia Morning | 7,846 | 5.8% |
| 5 | Hyundai Tucson | 7,804 | 5.7% |
| 6 | Kia Lotze | 6,676 | 4.9% |
| 7 | Samsung new SM3 | 6,459 | 4.8% |
| 8 | Hyundai Grandeur | 6,182 | 4.6% |
| 9 | Samsung SM5 | 5,929 | 4.4% |
| 10 | Kia K7 | 5,640 | 4.2% |
Source: KAMA, many thanks to Pedro for sharing the data!
Note: These rankings don’t include imports.
