The Hyundai Grandeur is #1 at home in January.
The South Korean new light vehicle market lodges a 6th consecutive year-on-year gain in January at +5.5% to 117,390 sales. This includes 101,168 local models (+7.7%) and 16,222 foreigners (-6.6%). Hyundai (+23.1%) largely outraces its home market to land a strong 37.4% share vs. 33.1% over the Full Year 2022. Kia (+4.4%) is more shy in 2nd place and 32.9% share. Genesis (-21%) goes against the positive trend but stays in third above Ssangyong (+47.4%), the standout performer in the Top 5. Note the Top 4 brands are all Korean for the third time in the past five months. BMW (+9.7%) takes advantage of a very slow month by Mercedes (-14.8%) to grab the #1 foreigner position at #5. Audi (+93.4%) almost doubles its sales year-on-year to #7, distancing Renault Korea (-52.7%) and GM Korea (-24%) both freefalling. Volvo (+0.3%) has a stable month to close the Top 10.
After a couple of months of transition between the old and new generation, the Hyundai Grandeur (+405.6%) is up 5-fold to score its first win since last June. The new model has started its career well. As a reminder the Grandeur was #1 annually in South Korea from 2017 to 2020. The Kia Carnival (+67.8%) is up three spots on December to land in 2nd place above last year’s leader the Hyundai Porter (+21.1%) also in great shape year-on-year. The Hyundai Avante (+12.2%) and Kia Sportage (+23.3%) also beat the market below. The new Ssangyong Torres roars up 14 ranks on last month to #6, its 2nd highest ranking below the #4 it hit last September. The Torres accounts for a whopping 76% of all Ssangyong sales this month. All remaining Top 10 models are down bar the Hyundai Tucson (+0.5%).
The BMW 5 Series (+6.4%) easily takes control of the foreigners ranking, taking advantage of a big slumps by the high selling Mercedes models. In fact BMW places five models in the foreigner Top 8, adding the X3 (+107.1%), X4 (+127.6%), 3 Series (-6.4%) and X5 (-4.8%). The Audi A6 (+254.5%) surges to 2nd place vs. #4 over the Full Year 2022 with the Mercedes E-Class (-49.8%) and S Class (-26.9%) in tow. The Lexus ES (+17%) and Porsche Cayenne (+87.6%) round out the Top 10.
Previous post: South Korea 2022: Kia threatens Hyundai for #1, Hyundai Porter and Kia Sorento on top
One year ago: South Korea January 2022: G80 first Genesis to rank #1, Kia outsells Hyundai for 2nd time
Full January 2023 Top 30 all brands, Top 50 all local models and Top 50 foreign models below.
South Korea January 2023 – brands:
Note: KAIDA doesn’t report Tesla sales.
| Pos | Brand | Jan-23 | % | /21 | Dec | FY22 |
| 1 | Hyundai | 43,868 | 37.4% | 23.1% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Kia | 38,678 | 32.9% | 4.4% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Genesis | 8,355 | 7.1% | -21.0% | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Ssangyong | 7,130 | 6.1% | 47.4% | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | BMW | 6,089 | 5.2% | 9.7% | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Mercedes | 2,900 | 2.5% | -14.8% | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | Audi | 2,454 | 2.1% | 93.4% | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Renault Korea | 2,116 | 1.8% | -52.7% | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | GM Korea | 1,021 | 1.0% | -24.0% | 10 | 8 |
| 10 | Volvo | 1,007 | 0.9% | 0.3% | 11 | 11 |
| 11 | Porsche | 726 | 0.6% | 7.2% | 13 | 14 |
| 12 | Lexus | 576 | 0.5% | 12.3% | 12 | 15 |
| 13 | Land Rover | 475 | 0.4% | 72.1% | 19 | 20 |
| 14 | Chevrolet | 360 | 0.3% | -20.9% | 17 | 13 |
| 15 | Mini | 279 | 0.2% | -65.9% | 14 | 12 |
| 16 | Toyota | 265 | 0.2% | -12.8% | 18 | 17 |
| 17 | Ford | 246 | 0.2% | -59.3% | 16 | 18 |
| 18 | Jeep | 244 | 0.2% | -51.0% | 15 | 16 |
| 19 | Volkswagen | 196 | 0.2% | -83.8% | 8 | 10 |
| 20 | Cadillac | 75 | 0.1% | 102.7% | 22 | 24 |
| 21 | Bentley | 71 | 0.1% | 102.9% | 27 | 25 |
| 22 | Honda | 69 | 0.1% | -76.6% | 20 | 19 |
| 23 | Peugeot | 66 | 0.1% | -40.0% | 24 | 23 |
| 24 | Lincoln | 59 | 0.1% | -62.2% | 23 | 22 |
| 25 | Lamborghini | 28 | 0.0% | 75.0% | 25 | 27 |
| 26 | Rolls-Royce | 19 | 0.0% | -17.4% | 28 | 28 |
| 27 | Maserati | 13 | 0.0% | -67.5% | 26 | 26 |
| 28 | DS | 2 | 0.0% | -71.4% | 29 | 30 |
| 29 | Jaguar | 2 | 0.0% | -86.7% | 30 | 29 |
| 30 | Citroen | 0 | 0.0% | -100.0% | – | 31 |
| 31 | Polestar | 0 | 0.0% | -100.0% | 21 | 21 |
| – | Total local manufacturers | 101,168 | 86.2% | 7.7% | – | – |
| – | Total foreign manufacturers | 16,222 | 13.8% | -6.6% | – | – |
| – | Total market | 117,390 | 100.0% | 5.5% | – | – |
South Korea January 2023 – local models:
| Pos | Model | Jan-23 | /22 | Dec | FY22 |
| 1 | Hyundai Grandeur | 9,131 | 405.6% | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Kia Carnival | 6,904 | 67.8% | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | Hyundai Porter | 6,591 | 21.1% | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Hyundai Avante | 6,100 | 12.2% | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Kia Sportage | 5,492 | 23.3% | 6 | 7 |
| 6 | Ssangyong Torres | 5,444 | new | 20 | 28 |
| 7 | Kia Sorento | 4,611 | -9.0% | 4 | 2 |
| 8 | Genesis G80 | 4,057 | -26.2% | 8 | 11 |
| 9 | Hyundai Palisade | 3,922 | -8.8% | 11 | 8 |
| 10 | Hyundai Tucson | 3,636 | 0.5% | 19 | 16 |
| 11 | Kia Ray | 3,585 | -0.4% | 12 | 13 |
| 12 | Kia Bongo | 3,580 | -20.8% | 13 | 4 |
| 13 | Kia K8 | 3,451 | 34.5% | 7 | 12 |
| 14 | Kia Seltos | 3,366 | -2.9% | 10 | 14 |
| 15 | Hyundai Casper | 3,070 | -22.2% | 17 | 10 |
| 16 | Hyundai Staria | 2,951 | 5.0% | 18 | 15 |
| 17 | Kia K5 | 2,560 | -23.4% | 21 | 17 |
| 18 | Hyundai Sonata | 2,539 | 24.7% | 9 | 9 |
| 19 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 2,124 | -1.6% | 14 | 21 |
| 20 | Genesis GV80 | 1,881 | 0.3% | 15 | 26 |
| 21 | Kia Morning | 1,813 | 18.2% | 24 | 20 |
| 22 | Kia Niro | 1,269 | 3.7% | 25 | 19 |
| 23 | Genesis GV70 | 1,149 | -52.4% | 16 | 18 |
| 24 | Samsung XM3 | 1,019 | -28.1% | 26 | 30 |
| 25 | Kia K3 | 950 | -47.0% | 22 | 29 |
| 26 | Genesis G90 | 944 | 1110.3% | 23 | 27 |
| 27 | Samsung QM6 | 877 | -69.4% | 28 | 22 |
| 28 | Hyundai Kona | 854 | 78.3% | 34 | 38 |
| 29 | SsangYong Rexton Sports | 698 | -76.6% | 27 | 24 |
| 30 | Hyundai Venue | 646 | -30.2% | 31 | 37 |
| 31 | SsangYong Tivoli | 632 | -42.3% | 37 | 34 |
| 32 | Kia Mohave | 482 | 18.7% | 38 | 32 |
| 33 | Kia K9 | 431 | -11.5% | 36 | 39 |
| 34 | Chevrolet Trailblazer | 430 | -39.4% | 33 | 31 |
| 35 | Genesis G70 | 317 | -40.5% | 32 | 40 |
| 36 | Chevrolet Spark | 310 | 1247.8% | 39 | 35 |
| 37 | Hyundai Nexo | 307 | -3.8% | 40 | 36 |
| 38 | Samsung SM6 | 220 | 77.4% | 41 | 43 |
| 39 | SsangYong Korando | 217 | -59.5% | 42 | 42 |
| 40 | SsangYong Rexton | 139 | -38.8% | 43 | 44 |
| 41 | Kia Stinger | 113 | -31.9% | 47 | 46 |
| 42 | Chevrolet Colorado | 107 | -66.6% | 44 | 45 |
| 43 | Chevrolet Traverse | 80 | 220.0% | 46 | 47 |
| 44 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 76 | -79.8% | 35 | 23 |
| 45 | Chevrolet Equinox | 61 | n/a | 48 | 51 |
| 46 | Hyundai Ioniq 6 | 23 | new | 30 | 33 |
| 47 | Chevrolet Malibu | 20 | -86.5% | 49 | 49 |
| 48 | Chevrolet Tahoe | 13 | new | 50 | 55 |
| 49 | Genesis GV60 | 7 | -96.0% | 45 | 41 |
| 50 | Kia EV6 | 0 | -100.0% | 29 | 25 |
South Korea January 2023 – foreign models:
| Pos | Model | Jan-23 | /22 | Dec | FY22 |
| 1 | BMW 5 Series | 2,124 | 6.4% | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | Audi A6 | 1,496 | 254.5% | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Mercedes E Class | 945 | -49.8% | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Mercedes S Class | 790 | -26.9% | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | BMW X3 | 731 | 107.1% | 24 | 10 |
| 6 | BMW X4 | 635 | 127.6% | 14 | 14 |
| 7 | BMW 3 Series | 515 | -6.4% | 16 | 9 |
| 8 | BMW X5 | 481 | -4.8% | 13 | 5 |
| 9 | Lexus ES | 476 | 17.0% | 6 | 15 |
| 10 | Porsche Cayenne | 392 | 87.6% | 11 | 20 |
| 11 | BMW 6 Series | 390 | 18.5% | 26 | 19 |
| 12 | Mercedes C Class | 299 | 14850.0% | 8 | 21 |
| 13 | Range Rover | 294 | 1629.4% | n/a | n/a |
| 14 | BMW X7 | 290 | -28.4% | 21 | 18 |
| 15 | Volvo S90 | 271 | 11.1% | 18 | 12 |
| 16 | BMW X6 | 257 | 238.2% | 27 | 16 |
| 17 | Volvo XC90 | 208 | 57.6% | 19 | 36 |
| 18 | Volvo S60 | 198 | 43.5% | 29 | n/a |
| 19 | Audi Q3 | 185 | n/a | 40 | n/a |
| 20 | Volvo XC60 | 179 | -42.1% | 47 | 32 |
| 21 | Ford Explorer | 158 | -68.6% | 39 | 25 |
| 22 | Toyota Camry | 156 | 5.4% | n/a | n/a |
| 23 | Audi A4 | 153 | -42.3% | 50 | n/a |
| 24 | BMW i4 | 151 | new | 37 | 35 |
| 25 | Mercedes GLC | 144 | 336.4% | 10 | 13 |
| 26 | Audi Q5 | 141 | 110.4% | 48 | 40 |
| 27 | Mini Cooper Hatch | 134 | -65.1% | 25 | 17 |
| 28 | Porsche Panamera | 125 | -7.4% | 49 | n/a |
| 29 | BMW 4 Series | 112 | 3.7% | n/a | n/a |
| 30 | Mercedes GLE | 109 | -17.4% | 15 | 8 |
| 31 | Audi A5 | 109 | 505.6% | n/a | n/a |
| 32 | Chevrolet Colorado | 107 | -66.6% | 36 | 28 |
| 33 | Mercedes CLA | 104 | 3366.7% | 20 | 41 |
| 34 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 94 | -21.7% | 35 | 49 |
| 35 | Mini Countryman | 91 | -64.2% | 23 | 27 |
| 36 | BMW 7 Series | 91 | -53.1% | 34 | 26 |
| 37 | VW Tiguan | 89 | -67.5% | 4 | 11 |
| 38 | Toyota Sienna | 83 | 1.2% | n/a | n/a |
| 39 | Volvo V60 | 81 | 252.2% | 43 | n/a |
| 40 | Chevrolet Traverse | 80 | 220.0% | 44 | 42 |
| 41 | Mercedes GLA | 74 | n/a | 7 | n/a |
| 42 | BMW 1 Series | 73 | -49.7% | n/a | 48 |
| 43 | Mercedes CLS | 72 | 1700.0% | 30 | 22 |
| 44 | Audi Q8 | 71 | -15.5% | n/a | n/a |
| 45 | Mercedes A Class | 68 | 1260.0% | 9 | 23 |
| 46 | Land Rover Defender | 67 | -9.5% | n/a | n/a |
| 47 | Mercedes EQE | 65 | new | 31 | n/a |
| 48 | Lexus NX | 65 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 49 | Porsche Taycan | 65 | -52.9% | n/a | n/a |
| 50 | Range Rover Sport | 65 | 261.1% | n/a | n/a |
Source: KAIDA, manufacturers
