South Korea January 2020: Hyundai Grandeur #1, Genesis GV80 lands in market down a steep -14.7%

The Genesis GV80 has landed in South Korea.

5/03 update: Now with Top 10 foreign models.

The South Korean new car market drops a steep -14.7% year-on-year in January to just 115.768 registrations including 99.602 local models (-15.2%) and 16.166 foreigners (-11.2%). Brand leader Hyundai (-19.2%) is hit very hard and sees its advantage over sister brand Kia (-2.5%) thaw to just 7.541 sales vs. 17.156 a year ago in January 2019. Ssangyong (-36.8%) totally implodes but remains #3 just above Mercedes (-5.2%) while GM Kona (+0.9%) posts a rare uptick, easily distancing Renault Samsung (-16.8%). Genesis (-43.1%) is in dire straits despite the arrival of a momentous nameplate (see further down), while Volkswagen (+333.9%), Citroen (+121.4%), Volvo (+27.9%), Ford/Lincoln (+11.5%) and Audi (+9%) are quite strikingly the only carmakers in positive this month.

Over in the models ranking, the Hyundai Grandeur (-7.2%) delivers a third consecutive monthly win thanks to the new generation but sees its sales worryingly drop year-on-year unlike the Kia K5 (+144.8%) and Hyundai Sonata (+41.4%) also benefitting from new generations. The Hyundai Palisade (-12.4%) outsells its smaller variant the Santa Fe (-54.2%) for the first time in history, the Kia K7 (+31.3%) and Samsung QM6 (+24.4%) are both in outstanding shape and the Kia Seltos is back inside the Top 10 for the 5th time in the past 6 months at #9. The Ssangyong Korando (+313.9%), Kia Mohave (+265.2%) and Chevrolet Spark (+19.6%) post rare gains in the Top 30. Finally, Genesis’ very first SUV offering, the GV80, lands at #37 with 347 sales for its first month at home.

Previous post: South Korea Full Year 2019: Hyundai Grandeur snaps third straight win at last minute, market down -1.9%

One year ago: South Korea January 2019: Hyundai Palisade up to #4

Full January 2020 Top 30 All-brands, Top 55 All local models and Top 10 foreign models below.