South Korea April 2025: New gen pushes Hyundai Palisade to #5, Kia EV4 lands

The new model lifts Hyundai Palisade sales up 272.4% year-on-year.

The South Korean new light vehicle market is up 6.8% year-on-year in April to 150,188 units. This is split between 128,698 sales for domestic manufacturers (+8.1%) and 21,495 sales for foreigners (-0.3%). The year-to-date tally is up 3.9% to 537,890 including 455,738 locals (+3.2%) and 82,152 foreigners (+7.9%). Hyundai (+7.8%) continues to dominate the brands charts with 37.3% vs. 34% for sister brand Kia (+7.3%). Genesis (-2.4%) drops slightly but manages to pass the symbolic 10,000 monthly sales barrier for a third consecutive month. BMW (+16.7%) is back to the 4th spot it holds year-to-date, ranking above Renault Korea (+195.1%) and Mercedes (-26.6%). Porsche (+73.7%) and Lexus (+47.1%) also impress. Meanwhile BYD shoots up to #17 with 543 sales for its first full month in market. Tesla is down -16% year-on-year.

Over in the domestic models ranking, the Kia Sorento (+11.8%) lodges an 8th straight month in the top spot and 14th win in the past 16 months. It is followed once again by the Kia Carnival (+10.4%) with the Hyundai Avante (+22.3%) and Kia Sportage (-6.6%) in tow as they also were last month. The Hyundai Palisade (+272.4%) is the hero of the month at #5, with deliveries pushed up spectacularly thanks to a new generation. This is the Palisade nameplate’s highest ranking since June 2022 (#3). The new Kia Tasman is up 43 ranks on its inaugural month to land at #26 while the Kia EV4 lands at #31.

As for foreign models, the Mercedes E-Class (+4.9%) stays on top above the BMW 5 Series (+37.8%). Thanks to the new Juniper model, the Tesla Model Y (+20000%) soars back up to #3 ahead of the Tesla Model 3 (-62.8%). The BMW X5 (+64.3%) rounds out the Top 5. The BYD Atto 3 storms into the Top 50 directly into 7th place, with the Lexus NX (+3483.3%), Porsche Cayenne (+57.2%) and BMW X7 (+29.4%) also posting excellent scores.

Previous month: South Korea March 2025: Hyundai and Kia Sorento #1, BYD and Kia Tasman land

One year ago: South Korea April 2024: Kia Sorento and Sportage top negative market

Full April 2025 Top 32 All brands, Top 56 All domestic models and Top 50 foreign models below.