Recreational cars grab largest share of S.Korea's automotive market

Recreational vehicles (RVs) in South Korea like sport utility vehicles (SUV) and small pickups are occupying a larger share of the domestic automotive market.

Industry sources on Tuesday said domestic sales of RVs such as SUVs and small pickups (excluding commercial models) of 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 domestic RV sales last year broke the 60% mark for the first time with 60.5%.

Non-RV passenger car models such as sedans tend to lose to RVs 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 RV bestsellers in the midsize crossover SUV Sorento and compact crossover SUV 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 RV 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 RVs such as the subcompact crossover SUV Trailblazer and compact crossover SUV 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