South Korea September 2012: Kia K3 lands directly at #10!

Kia K3

* See the Top 40 best-selling local models by clicking on the title! *

Sales of new local cars are down 7% year-on-year in South Korea to 115,811 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,012,926 units, down 9% on 2011. For the third time this year after January and May, the Hyundai Sonata hops into the pole position and with 10,820 sales and 9.3% it delivers its best volume in South Korea since December 2010 and its best market share since November 2010… This second wind, over 2 years after the launch of the current generation, can be attributed to very strong sales of the Hybrid version at 2,042 units this month. The Sonata is however still #2 year-to-date (up from #4 in 2011) with 75,515 sales and 7.5% vs. 81,256 and 8% for the Hyundai Avante (aka Elantra), also strong this month at #2 with 8.9% share.

Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

For the 4th time in the last 12 months after November 2011, December 2011 and January 2012 the podium is 100% Hyundai with the Hyundai Porter up a very satisfying 5 spots on August to #3 at 7,773 sales and 6.7%. It is now #5 year-to-date ahead of the Kia K5 and below the Kia Morning, down to #4 after leading the ranking in August and the Hyundai Grandeur down one spot to #5 this month. If the Hyundai Santa Fe is up one to #6, the big event in the Top 10 in September is the landing directly at #10 of the all-new Kia K3, the successor to the Kia Forte, with 3,616 sales and 3.1% share. It will be fascinating to follow the next few months of sales for the K3 as Kia’s two previous big launches (for the K5 and Picanto) resulted in both models topping the ranking, in June 2010 and February 2011 respectively…

Hyundai i40

Further down, the Hyundai Accent is up 3 spots to #15, the Kia Ray continues to fall at -5 on August to #16 almost one year after its launch, the Chevrolet Cruze is up 2 ranks to #17, the Hyundai i40 is up an impressive 10 to #20, its 2nd best-ranking in the country below the #18 it hit in February, the SsangYong Korando C stays solid at #21 while the Samsung SM3 is down to #23 in spite of its recent facelift.

Previous month: South Korea August 2012: Kia Morning in pole position

One year ago: South Korea September 2011: Kia K5 back in shape

Full September 2012 Top 40 Ranking Table below.