South Korea July 2024: Kia back to #1, EV3 lands

The Kia EV3 is the best-selling EV in South Korea in July.

The South Korean new car market edges down -1.8% year-on-year in July to 133,497 units. This includes 111,520 domestic cars (-2.9%) and 21,977 foreigners (+4%). The year-to-date tally is off a worrying -9.5% to 929,522 sales including 781,893 locals (-10.6%) and 147,629 foreigners (-2.8%). This month Kia (-2.5%) reclaims the brands top spot for the third time this year and the first time since last February. Hyundai (-3.7%) drops to #2 but remains #1 year-to-date with just above 1,000 units more than Kia. Genesis (+2.4%) is relatively solid in context and stays above 10,000 monthly units for the 9th month in a row. Honda (+658.1%), Lincoln (+188%) and Ford (+187.1%) surge below. 

In the domestic models ranking, the Kia Sorento (+33.8%) returns to the top spot it holds year-to-date, signing a 9th win in the past 11 month. The Kia Carnival (+15.4%) falls to #2 ahead of the Hyundai Grandeur (+26.3%) up three spots on June, the Kia Sportage (-5.9%) and Hyundai Sonata (+96.5%). The Kia Seltos (+15.1%) and Hyundai Santa Fe (+152.9%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 10. We have a new entrant this month: the much anticipated Kia EV3, landing directly at #20 and instantly becoming the best-selling EV in the country above the Kia Ray EV and Hyundai Porter Electric.

Over in the foreign models charts, the BMW 5 Series (-9.2%) reclaims the lead both for the month and year-to-date (-16.1%) despite falling. However its advantage over the Tesla Model Y (+2359.1%) is just 22 units in July and 5 sales year-to-date… The Mercedes E Class (+21.6%) is also dynamic in third place but the biggest improvement is delivered by the Tesla Model 3 (+6105.9%) at #4. The BMW 6 Series (+56.7%) advances to #5, with South Korea probably the only country in the world where this nameplate is successful. The BMW X5 (+132%) and Mercedes GLE (+25.8%) also impress below. Among newcomers, the Mercedes CLE is up to a fantastic 11th place.

Previous month: South Korea June 2024: Weak sales, Hyundai back above Kia YTD

One year ago: South Korea July 2023: Kia overtakes Hyundai, places 6 models in Top 8

Full July 2024 Top 30 All brands, Top 55 all domestic models and Top 50 foreign models below.