Korea's BIG Car Sales in 2005 Up: Market Share Over 20%

Koreans love big cars...it comes as no surprise that the large sedan market share in Korea ever increases...

Korea media notes...
Sales of South Korea's domestic large sedans jumped 47.5 percent to 139,550 units last year commanding more than a fifth of total Korean passenger car sales reflecting a widening gap between income brackets.

Hyundai Motor Co.'s Grandeur [Azera], Equus; Renault Samsung Motors Co.'s SM7; Kia Motors Corp.'s Opirus [Amanti]; Ssangyong Motor Co.'s Chairman and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co.'s Statesman took up 22.4 percent of 621,950 passenger cars sold in Korea last year.

The addition of new models also spurred sales growth. Renault Samsung launched the SM7 sedan in late 2004 and GM Daewoo began selling the Australian-made Statesman in June last year. >>A revamped version of Hyundai's Grandeur[Azera] also made its market debut in May and became the bestselling Korean car in August and December.<<<

More than 73,600 Grandeurs[Azera} were sold last year, followed by the SM7 of which 25,675 units were sold. [This confirms my own observation--lots of Azera's and SM7's on the streets of Seoul.]

The market share of large cars had been 15.9 percent in 2002, 18.1 percent in 2003 and 18.4 percent in 2004.

In 2005, the market share jumped to over 20 per cent, even with increased competition from Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. [in 2006 Lexus, new to the Korean market, will probably beat out number one ranked import BMW.]