South Korea November 2019: Hyundai Grandeur fights off Sonata to #1

The striking new Hyundai Grandeur is #1 in South Korea in November.

22/01/20 update: Now with Top 85 foreign models.

17/12/19 update: Now with Top 10 foreign models.

The South Korea new car market remains muted in November at -1.7% to 159.447 registrations, with local carmakers dropping -4.2% to 133.33 and 84% share and foreigners surging 14% to 25.514 and 16%. The year-to-dat total is down -3.3% to 1.597.361 but this time both locals (-2.2% to 1.380.289 and 86.4%) and foreigners (-9.8% to 217.072 and 13.6%) are down. The Korean “Big 5” reclaim the monopoly of the Top 5 but all lose ground vs. November 2018: Hyundai (-2.5%) leads the way above Kia (-0.2%), Ssangyong (-10.6%), Renault Samsung (-3.9%) and GM Korea (-11.7%). Mercedes (-6%) tops foreign carmakers again but BMW (+88.9%) and Audi (+320.1%) are now catching up. Volkswagen (+1.8%) is back inside the Top 10 while Chevrolet makes a strange entrance at #11 as it should be counted as part of GM Korea – we’re investigating this as I write these lines. Lamborghini (+1150%), Peugeot (+152.5%), Infiniti (+96.3%), Jeep/Chrysler (+62.5%), Volvo (+21.9%) and Mini (+11.1%) impress further down.

Model-wise, just as the Hyundai Sonata (+65.5%) seemed to have gripped onto the lead, the Hyundai Grandeur (+2.1%) is now lifted by the new model up to its first monthly win and five-digit monthly volume since April 2019. With the Hyundai Porter (-5.1%) at #2 year-to-date, the 2019 win will need a photo finish next month: only 1.252 sales separate the Sonata (#1 YTD) from the Grandeur (#3) at end-November. Below the Hyundai Santa Fe (-22.2%) nursing its end-of-honeymoon, the new Kia Seltos is back inside the Top 5 for the third time in five months of sales at home. The Samsung QM6 (+50.7%) aka Renault Koleos and Kia K7 (+26.6%) also post stellar gains in the remainder of the Top 10.

The Mercedes E-Class (-19.3%) and the BMW 5 Series (+126.3%) continue to dominate the foreign models ranking, but the VW Tiguan (+94.5%) storms into the podium for the month, knocking the Audi Q7 down to #4. Mercedes also places the GLC, C Class and CLS inside the Top 10 while BMW has the 3 Series and Audi the A6. The Jeep Renegade (+292.5%) also makes a rare appearance.

Previous month: South Korea October 2019: Hyundai monopolises Top 5, Sonata now #1 YTD

One year ago: South Korea November 2018: Hyundai Grandeur back in charge, Ssangyong up 17.8% in stable market

Full November 2019 Top 30 All-brands, Top 60 All local models and Top 85 foreign models below.