South Korea May 2024: Kia Sorento pulls 5th straight win, Hyundai ST1 lands

The Hyundai Staria-based ST1 makes its first appearance in the South Korean ranking.

The South Korean new car market drops -7.1% year-on-year in May to 140,886 sales, including 116,677 locals (-10.5%) and 24,209 foreigners (+13.4%). Year-to-date volumes are off -9.8% to 658,593 including 558,241 locals (-10.9%) and 100,352 foreigners (-3.5%). Hyundai (-7.4%) lodges a third consecutive month atop the brands charts with 37% share, well ahead of sister brand Kia (-8.2%) at 32.8% of its home market. However this is not enough to topple Kia from the year-to-date top spot, yet the gap between the two brands has narrowed to just 1,500 sales. Genesis (-18.4%) is in grave difficulty but manages a five-figure monthly result for the 7th consecutive month. Tesla ranks #6 with 3% share, just as Lincoln (+168.9%), Honda (+121.7%), Ford (+37%) and Lexus (+35.4%), impress below.

The Kia Sorento (+15.2%) delivers its 5th consecutive monthly win and 8th win in the past 9 month, towering above the models ranking. 72.8% of Sorento sales go to the hybrid variant. The Kia Carnival (+7.7%) climbs two spots on April to #2 overall, a ranking it also holds year-to-date. Hybrid sales represent 49.1% of Carnival sales this month. The Hyundai Porter (-13.3%) and Grandeur (-40.6%) follow ahead of the Kia Sportage (+7.4%) with 46% going to hybrid versions. The Hyundai Sonata (+121.3%), Santa Fe (+119.2%) and Kia Seltos (+27.7%) also shine. The Hyundai ST1, the brand’s first electric work van, makes its appearance inside the ranking at #49.

Over in the foreign models aisle, the Tesla Model 3 (+3708.6%) triumphs with over 3,500 sales, distancing the Mercedes E-Class (+53.1%) and BMW 5 Series (-18.1%). The 5 Series stays in the YTD lead. The next six models spectacularly score double-digit year-on-year improvements, with the Tesla Model Y (+87.6%) the most dynamic followed by the BMW X3 (+63.5%), Lexus NX (+62.2%), Volvo XC60 (+60.5%) and BMW 6 Series (+32%).

Previous month: South Korea April 2024: Kia Sorento and Sportage top negative market

One year ago: South Korea May 2023: Hyundai Grandeur, Kia Seltos impress

Full May 2024 Top 30 All brands, Top 53 local models and Top 50 foreign models below.