South Korea April 2021: Hyundai Grandeur back on top, Staria and Ioniq 5 land in market down -2.5%

The Hyundai Staria has landed in the South Korean charts…

The South Korean new car market edges down -2.5% to 161.179 units on strong Covid recovery year-ago volumes and production disruptions due to the global microchip shortage. The year-to-date tally is now up 7.3% to 592.684. Hyundai (-3.3%) falls slightly faster than its home market to 34.9% share vs. 35.2% year-to-date while Kia (+1.7%) swims upstream to 31.7% share vs. 30.6% so far this year. Only 5.201 units separate the two sister brands this month. In third place for the 8th straight month, Genesis surges 35.9% year-on-year to 13.890 units, the premium brand’s 2nd largest volume below last month’s 14.066. With its three brands on the podium, the Hyundai-Kia Group holds 75.2% of its home market in April. Mercedes (+25%) and BMW (+19.3%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 5, distancing three struggling local brands: GM Korea (-18.4%), Renault Samsung (-50.4%) and Ssangyong (-44.9%). Further down, Rolls Royce (+140%), Lincoln (+115.9%), Bentley (+111.8%), Lexus (+79.2%), Jeep/Chrysler (+78.8%), Toyota (+69.3%), Ford (+42.9%) and Lamborghini (+42.3%) stand out.

…as has the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

In the local models ranking, the Hyundai Grandeur (-35.4%) reclaims the top spot off the Hyundai Porter (+21.3%) despite a harsh year-on-year drop. The Kia Carnival (+320.3%) drops one spot to #3, distancing the Hyundai Avante (-10%) and a resurgent Hyundai Sonata (+31.3%). The Genesis G80 (+36.1%) and Kia Bongo (+23.7%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 10 whereas the Kia Sorento (-32.8%) and Kia K5 (-16.9%) are in freefall. The Genesis GV70 continues to easily lead recent launches at #13, down two ranks on last month. In April we welcome two striking new Hyundais: the Staria at #45 and the Ioniq 5 at #48. As for foreign models, the Mercedes E-Class (+44.7%) remains by far the most popular ahead of the BMW 5 Series (-4.9%) and Mercedes GLE (+2917.5%). The Mercedes S-Class (+25%) storms into the Top 5 at #4 with the Lexus ES (+88.7%) and BMW X3 (+78.5%) also very dynamic in the remainder of the Top 10.

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

One year ago: South Korea April 2020: Second solid market uptick (+7%) confirms post-Covid recovery, Genesis smashes record

Full April 2021 Top 30 All-brands, Top 59 All local models and Top 50 foreign models below.