Complete Car 'Seumol3', Fierce Competition for 3rd Place

Renault Samsung XM3 (Photo by Renault Samsung)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The competition for third place among the domestic automakers excluding Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, known as the 'Small 3', is fierce. All three companies have monthly sales fluctuating around 6,000 units, causing the rankings from third to fifth place to change every month.

According to the industry on the 6th, Korea GM sold 5,898 units in August, ranking fifth in the domestic automobile industry. The previous month, it sold 6,988 units, surpassing Ssangyong Motor (6,702 units) and Renault Samsung Motors (6,301 units) to claim third place, but it dropped to last place within a month.

Since the beginning of this year, the third place in the domestic car market has been evenly divided among the three companies: Ssangyong Motor three times (January, February, August), Renault Samsung four times (March, April, May, June), and Korea GM once (July). The monthly sales performance fluctuated depending on the launch effects of popular new cars.

Since March this year, the new XM3 has been responsible for Renault Samsung's performance. After its launch in March, the XM3 sold more than 5,000 units monthly for four consecutive months, leading Renault Samsung's overall sales performance. Riding on the success of the XM3, Renault Samsung sold over 10,000 units per month, quickly rising to the top among these three companies. However, as the new car effect of the XM3 slowed down in July, its ranking naturally dropped.

Korea GM's performance was driven by the Trailblazer. The Trailblazer, which had steady sales since its launch, sold 2,494 units domestically in July. At that time, as the individual consumption tax reduction benefit was reduced, sales of most brands declined, but the Trailblazer, which had remaining demand, continued to perform well.

However, there is criticism that the fundamental problem lies in the unstable sales structure of these three companies, where rankings fluctuate depending on the success or failure of a single new model. When dependence on certain models is excessively high, performance is greatly affected by the sales of those vehicles.

An industry official said, “Renault Samsung, Ssangyong Motor, and Korea GM have had poor sales performance for two consecutive months in July and August, with monthly sales not even reaching 7,000 units. While a temporary rebound can be expected with new car launches, in the long term, securing a variety of models with steady demand is necessary to stabilize performance.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.