South Korea March 2021: Genesis and Hyundai Porter break all-time records in market edging down -1.8%

The new GV70 helps Genesis break its volume record this month.

13/04 update: Now with Top 50 foreign models.

New car sales in South Korea edge down -1.8% year-on-year in March to 168.268 units, with local carmakers down -6.7% to 140.971 but foreigners up 34.4% to 27.297. The year-ago comparison base is high as many cars ordered in January and February were registered in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic which started earlier here. Year-to-date, the market is up 11.5% to 431.505 units including 359.597 locals (+8.2%) and 71.908 foreigners (+31.5%).

Hyundai (-9.4%) falls significantly faster than the market which reduces the gap with #2 Kia (stable) to less than 9.000 sales. The hero of the month is Genesis (+126.8%) breaking its all-time volume record at 14.066 vs. 13.315 in June 2020 thanks to very strong scores by the G80 and GV70. Mercedes (+49.2%) surges year-on-year and remains in 4th place overall above GM Korea (-31.4%) while BMW (+25%), also in outstanding shape, distances Renault Samsung (-52.6%) and Ssangyong (-37.2%) both freefalling. Jeep (+177.5%), Audi (+137.8%), Lexus (+109.2%), Lincoln (+84.7%), Volkswagen (+51.9%), Honda (+43.5%) and Mini (+25.9%) are among the biggest gainers further down.

The Hyundai Porter (+22.2%) breaks its all-time volume record at 11.213 and reaches the 10.000 monthly unit milestone for the first time since July 2019. This performance is achieved thanks to 2.462 sales of the new EV variant. This way, the Porter is now also the best-seller year-to-date. The Kia Carnival (+191%) is up 3-fold on a year ago and one spot on last month to end the month at #2. The Hyundai Grandeur (-44.5%) freefalls to #3 after spending four consecutive months in the top spot. The Hyundai Avante (+117.6%) and Kia Sorento (+115.7%) continue to benefit from new generations but the winner at this game is the Genesis G80 (+751.2%) returning inside the Top 10 at #10. The Genesis GV70 us up a further four spots on last month and almost doubles its sales month-on-month to #11 with over 5.000 units, shooting up to #3 SUV in the country below the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Palisade but above the Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe and Kia Seltos.

Previous month: South Korea February 2021: Market rallies up 25.6%, new Hyundai Tucson shines, Genesis GV70 in Top 15

One year ago: South Korea March 2020: Hyundai Grandeur, Kia K5 and Samsung XM3 impress in market back up 9.6%

Full March 2021 Top 30 All-brands, Top 57 All domestic models and Top 50 foreign models below.