[Car Talk Forest] The Season of Auto Camping... Box Cars and MPVs 'Dash'

Popular Models in Domestic Market in First Half: Carnival, Staria, Ray, and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The domestic finished car market continues to see strong sales of multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) and box car models. Despite a 6% decrease in new car registrations in the domestic market in the first half of this year due to vehicle semiconductor supply shortages and base effects, these segments are experiencing high growth.

The Kia Carnival, a representative minivan in Korea, recorded cumulative sales of 51,926 units from January to July this year. This figure represents a remarkable 167.0% increase compared to the same period last year. Its cumulative sales rank second (among passenger cars) following the Grandeur, which is called the new national car, with 58,077 units sold.

Hyundai Motor Company's ambitious new model, the Staria, launched in April this year, is also performing well. The Staria recorded 11,003 pre-orders on the first day of March alone and has sold 11,712 units up to last month. In just over three months since its launch, it has achieved 30% of the previous model Grand Starex’s last year sales volume (36,190 units).

The biggest reason for the popularity of these models is the new car effect, but industry analysts also point to the influence of the long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic spotlighting ‘Auto Camping’?camping outdoors using a vehicle. The pandemic has emphasized cars as personalized spaces and has led to the spread of contactless travel and leisure culture.

According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, the number of camping vehicle tuning cases last year was 7,709, a whopping 251% increase compared to the previous year. The authority explains that this is due to the relaxation of tuning regulations, an increase in camping vehicle types, and growing interest in car camping culture.

Compared to camping cars and camping trailers, which require considerable introduction and maintenance costs, MPV models have the advantage of being usable for leisure purposes with relatively small investments and can be used daily for family or work purposes.

Another, or perhaps the biggest, beneficiary of the car camping craze is the box car. The Kia Ray, the only box car model in Korea, has sold a cumulative 21,843 units this year, a 38% increase compared to last year. It ranks first in sales among the three domestic light car models. This is a successful ‘reverse run’ without undergoing a single full model change since its launch.

The Kia Ray’s strengths include lower introduction and maintenance costs compared to typical leisure vehicles and excellent space utilization for car camping despite being a light box car, even better than some sedans or sport utility vehicle (SUV) models. Recently, the aftermarket for tuning this model into camping cars has also been activated.

Experts expect the strong performance of camping-suitable models such as MPVs and box cars to continue for the time being. This is because the overall national income level is rising, leading to further expansion of auto camping culture, and the long-term COVID-19 pandemic is causing a reevaluation of the value of automobiles.

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