South Korea August 2021: Kia Sportage up to #2, Kia EV6 lands in market off -2.7%

The new generation lifts the Kia Sportage to #2 overall in August.

New car sales in South Korea reduce their fall in August at -2.7% to 128.363 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -3.4% to 1.178.125 sales. This month, local manufacturers are off -3.4% to 106.247 while foreigners edge up 1% to 22.116. Year-to-date, locals are down -6.2% to 983.863 but foreigners soar 14.3% to 194.262. We at BSCB forecast the Full Year 2021 volume to drop -3% to 1.86 million units.

In the brands ranking, Hyundai (-6.5%) reclaims the top spot after being upset by sister brand Kia last month and despite losing twice as much ground as the market. Kia (+6.7%) posts a solid gain to 31.9% share vs. 33.3% for Hyundai. Genesis (+17.6%) scores another flamboyant year-on-year performance but drops below the 10.000 sales milestone for the first time in 6 months. Mercedes (+11.7%) is also in excellent shape at #4, whereas the next five carmakers all crumble down: BMW (-28.1%), Ssangyong (-28.1%), GM Korea (-19.5%), Renault Samsung (-24.6%) and Audi (-33.7%) all would rather forget August. Further down, Volvo (+242.9%), Bentley (+140.9%), Honda (+114.9%), Chevrolet (+103.9%), Lincoln (+72.9%), Cadillac (+48.3%), Volkswagen (+48.1%), Lexus (+32.7%) and Porsche (+18.6%) all post stellar gains. Tesla doesn’t report its sales to KAIDA and therefore is absent from the ranking even though August sales add up to 2.430 (9th place).

First month of sales at home for the Kia EV6.

Model-wise, the Hyundai Porter (+4.3%) confirms it is the new favourite at home, cementing its newly acquired year-to-date pole position. The most impressive vehicle near the top is without question the Kia Sportage (+346.4%) up more than 4-fold year-on-year and 19 spots on July to land in 2nd place overall thanks to the new generation. Below a stable Kia Carnival (-0.2%), the Hyundai Sonata (+2%) rallies back up 11 ranks on last mont to #4, distancing the Hyundai Avante (-23.2%) and Kia K5 (+10.8%). The Hyundai Tucson (+129.6%) also takes advantage of its new generation and climbs up three spots on July to #9 vs. #11 year-to-date. Handicapped by factory closures, the Hyundai Grandeur (-64%) implodes to #11 vs. #2 so far this year. Among recent launches, the Hyundai Staria is down one rank on last month to #13, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is up two to #14, the Genesis GV70 is down five to #19 and the Kia EV6 lands at #22 with 1.910 sales for its first month in market.

In the foreign models charts, the Mercedes E-Class (+32.9%) retains its crown while the Tesla Model Y lurches from outside the July Top 50 directly to 2nd place overall, distancing the BMW 5 Series (-63.8%) in freefall and the VW Tiguan (+123.8%) surging ahead. The Tesla Model 3 (-29.5%) rounds out the Top 5 and now ranks #3 year-to-date.

Previous month: South Korea July 2021: Kia topples Hyundai for the first time in market off -8.5%

One year ago: South Korea August 2020: BMW (+69%), Genesis (+54.2%) defy first post-pandemic sales drop (-3.5%)

Full August 2021 Top 30 All-brands, Top 60 All-local models and Top 50 foreigners below.