Korea - Automotive Sales volume, 2025
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*The number of units listed is the number at the time of the announcement.
Flash report, Automotive sales volume, 2025
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Flash report, January 2025
Feb 3, 2025
*There are cases where recently released data and detailed information in the database do not match up for reasons including different information sources, and discrepancies between preliminary reports and confirmed data.
New vehicle sales by 5 major OEMs in South Korea decrease 11.8% in January
Five Korean automakers announced domestic new vehicle sales in January. New vehicle sales in South Korea declined by 11.8% year-over-year (y/y) to 90,587 units. Due to the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday, the reduction in business days in February also affected production for both domestic sales and exports.
By company, Hyundai Motor was the leader with sales of 46,054 units (50.8% market share), a decrease of 7.5% year-over-year (y/y), followed by Kia Motors with a 13.9% decrease to 38,403 units (42.4% share). Renault Korea came in third place with a 58.1% increase to 2,601 units (2.9% share). KGM sales decreased by 38.9% to 2,300 units (2.5% share), and fifth GM Korea experienced a decrease in sales of 57.5% to 1,229 units (1.4% share). Despite temporarily halting operations at its Busan plant for one month in January 2025 to upgrade its EV production facilities, Renault Korea was the only company to achieve sales growth.
Overseas sales, including exports, decreased 1.4% at Hyundai, 24.6% at GM Korea. Sales increased by 0.1% at Kia, 438.1 % at Renault Korea and 5.0% at KGM. In total, overseas sales decreased by 2.4% to 502,623 units.
Global sales of five automakers in January were mixed, with Hyundai's global sales down 2.3% y/y to 310,399 units, Kia’s sales down 2.4% to 239,396 units and GM Korea’s sales decreased 26.8% to 31,618 units. KGM’s sales decreased 13.0% to 7,980 units. Meanwhile, Renault Korea more than doubled its sales, increasing 104.0% to 3,817 units. Total global sales for the five companies fell 3.9% y/y to 593,210 units.
By model in January, Kia’s mid-size SUV Sorento was ranked first with 7,454 units sold, followed by Kia’s compact SUV Sportage in second place with 6,547 units sold and Kia’s MPV Carnival was third in sales with 6,068 units.
South Korea - Sales of domestic make (Jan. 2025)
Make | Domestic Sales | Overseas Sales | Global Sales Total | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 | 2024 | Y-o-Y | Jan. 2025 |
Jan. 2024 |
Y-o-Y | Jan. 2025 |
Jan. 2024 |
Y-o-Y | |||
Jan. | Share *1 | Jan. | Share *1 | ||||||||
Hyundai |
46,054
|
50.8%
|
49,810
|
48.5%
|
-7.5%
|
264,345
|
268,013
|
-1.4%
|
310,399
|
317,823
|
-2.3%
|
Kia |
38,403
|
42.4%
|
44,608
|
43.4%
|
-13.9%
|
200,993
|
200,794
|
0.1%
|
239,396
|
245,402
|
-2.4%
|
Renault Korea *3 |
2,601
|
2.9%
|
1,645
|
1.6%
|
58.1%
|
1,216
|
226
|
438.1%
|
3,817
|
1,871
|
104.0%
|
KGM |
2,300
|
2.5%
|
3,762
|
3.7%
|
-38.9%
|
5,680
|
5,410
|
5.0%
|
7,980
|
9,172
|
-13.0%
|
GM Korea *2 |
1,229
|
1.4%
|
2,894
|
2.8%
|
-57.5%
|
30,389
|
40,300
|
-24.6%
|
31,618
|
43,194
|
-26.8%
|
Total |
90,587
|
100.0%
|
102,719
|
100.0%
|
-11.8%
|
502,623
|
514,743
|
-2.4%
|
593,210
|
617,462
|
-3.9%
|
Source: Releases by each companies
*1: Share is based on MarkLines' own calculation. (calculated from total sales of five Korean makers)
*2: Exclude sales volume of Cadillac
*3: Includes Nissan Rogue
Registrations of new imported passenger cars
Maker/Brand | 2025 | 2024 | Y-o-Y | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan. | Share | Jan. | Share | ||
BMW | 5,960 | 39.1% | 4,330 | 33.1% | 37.6% |
Mercedes-Benz | 3,790 | 24.9% | 2,931 | 22.4% | 29.3% |
Lexus | 1,126 | 7.4% | 998 | 7.6% | 12.8% |
Volvo | 1,033 | 6.8% | 965 | 7.4% | 7.0% |
Porsche | 644 | 4.2% | 677 | 5.2% | -4.9% |
Ford/Lincoln | 500 | 3.3% | 514 | 3.9% | -2.7% |
Toyota | 430 | 2.8% | 786 | 6.0% | -45.3% |
Land Rover | 325 | 2.1% | 340 | 2.6% | -4.4% |
Audi | 320 | 2.1% | 179 | 1.4% | 78.8% |
MINI | 234 | 1.5% | 543 | 4.2% | -56.9% |
Honda | 177 | 1.2% | 177 | 1.4% | 0.0% |
Chevrolet | 134 | 0.9% | 155 | 1.2% | -13.5% |
Volkswagen | 129 | 0.8% | 53 | 0.4% | 143.4% |
Chrysler/Jeep | 120 | 0.8% | 213 | 1.6% | -43.7% |
Polestar | 103 | 0.7% | 0 | 0.0% | -% |
Lamborghini | 58 | 0.4% | 7 | 0.1% | 728.6% |
Peugeot | 38 | 0.2% | 101 | 0.8% | -62.4% |
Ferrari | 32 | 0.2% | - | -% | -% |
Cadillac | 26 | 0.2% | 57 | 0.4% | -54.4% |
GM/GMC | 14 | 0.1% | 18 | 0.1% | -22.2% |
Maserati | 14 | 0.1% | 16 | 0.1% | -12.5% |
Bentley | 10 | 0.1% | 13 | 0.1% | -23.1% |
Rolls-Royce | 7 | 0.0% | 9 | 0.1% | -22.2% |
Tesla | 5 | 0.0% | 1 | 0.0% | 400.0% |
Total | 15,229 | 100.0% | 13,083 | 100.0% | 16.4% |
Source: Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA)