SUVs, small pickups grab largest share of S.Korea's car market

Sport utility vehicles (SUV) and small pickup trucks in South Korea are occupying a larger share of the domestic automotive market.

Industry sources on Tuesday said domestic sales of the two vehicle types excluding commercial models by the country’s five automakers from January to August this year accounted for an all-time high of 61.1% of the market. The share of such sales last year broke the 60% mark for the first time with 60.5%.

Non-SUV or pickup passenger car models such as sedans tend to lose to the two types despite the new car effect of hyped releases such as Hyundai Motor Co.'s large luxury sedan Grandeur. Failing to meet sales expectations were the partially modified midsize Hyundai Sonata and compact Avante despite improved design and marketing at the new car level.

Sales of the electric-powered midsize IONIQ 6 were also limited to an average 1,000 units per month over the period.

Kia Corp., which has SUV bestsellers in the midsize crossover Sorento and compact crossover Sportage, suffered a 2% dip in overall sales of passenger models despite good results from its compact model Ray and semi-large sedan K8. Over the cited period, the company’s SUV and small pickup sales increased 15.3%. 

KG Mobility has not sold passenger models since the discontinuation of its large luxury sedan Chairman.

GM Korea also focused on SUVs such as its subcompact crossover Trailblazer and compact crossover Trax after discontinuing its city model Spark and midsize sedan Malibu. Its passenger vehicle sales plummeted 81.8% year on year.

Renault Korea also recently narrowed its main lineup to SUVs such as the midsize QM6 and compact XM3, resulting in a 48.6% drop in passenger car sales over the eight-month period.

Write to Il-Gue Kim at black0419@hankyung.com