South Korea June 2016: Hyundai Avante up 76%, Kia Niro in Top 20

Kia Niro

* See the Top 30 All-brands, Top 55 local models and Top 143 foreigners by clicking on the title *

Now updated with foreign brands and models rankings.

The South Korean new car market is up 16% year-on-year in June to 184.437 units, lifting the half-year tally up 9% to 929.255. Local manufacturers are solely responsible for this uptick with sales up 19% in June and 11% year-to-date whereas foreign brands are down 4% in June and 2% year-to-date. Hyundai under-performs once again at +11% to 69.970 units and 42.3% share whereas sister company Kia does better at +17% to 52.506 sales but is still below market growth. Reversely, GM Korea shoots up 48% to 18.058 and Renault Samsung gains 60% to 10.778 deliveries, solely thanks to the tremendous and continuing success of the all-new SM6 (aka Renault Talisman), once again the 6th best-selling vehicle in the country this month.

The Hyundai Avante is up 76% in June at home. 

Hyundai places four nameplates in the Top 4 this month, with the Avante (aka Elantra) shooting up 76% to reclaim the top spot ahead of the Porter, Santa Fe and Sonata. The Kia Sorento holds strong at #5, the Hyundai Tucson is up 33% to #7, the Chevrolet Malibu is up almost 5-fold on June 2015 to break into the Top 10 for the very first time in South Korea thanks to a new generation, the Ssangyong Tivoli is up 57% to break its monthly volume record anew to 5.711 sales but is down 4 spots on May to #13, the Kia K7 is up 205% to #15 and the Kia Sportage is up 65% to #16 thanks to the new model. Let’s also salute the very solid performance of the Kia Niro hybrid, breaking into the Top 20 this month thanks to 3.246 sales, to be compared with just 761 deliveries for its platform twin the Hyundai Ioniq (#34). The Genesis EQ900 has stabilised around 3.000 monthly units.

The Audi A6 is the most popular foreigner in South Korea in June.

Among foreign carmakers, BMW remains on top for the third consecutive month despite sales down 16% to 4.820, distancing Mercedes (+8%) and Audi (+28%) while Volkswagen implodes down 58% due to renewed stop-sale orders on its scandal-embroiled diesel lineup. Jaguar (+83%), Lexus (+76%), Volvo (+76%), Toyota (+64%), Honda (+48%) and Land Rover (+38%) on the other hand display spectacular gains. Model-wise, a generation changeover has cost the Mercedes E-Class its YTD pole position, now held by the BMW 5 Series despite sales down 47% to #5. The Audi A6 is the most popular in June ahead of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes S Class, with the Land Rover Discovery Sport also impressive at #11.

Previous month: South Korea May 2016: Samsung SM6 and Ssangyong Tivoli break records

One year ago: South Korea June 2015: Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento shoot up

Full June 2016 Top 30 All-brands and Top 55 local models and Top 143 foreigners below.