'Le Ssangshwe' Losing Presence in Korea

Monthly Sales Decline... "Active Investment Needed"

The presence of the three mid-sized domestic automakers?Korea GM, Renault Korea Motors, and SsangYong Motor?is disappearing in the domestic market. Their domestic sales volume continues to decline. There are calls for them to actively invest and launch new vehicles in the market.

According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), the domestic sales volume of Korea GM, Renault Korea Motors, and SsangYong Motor from January to February this year totaled 20,387 units, a 4.56% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Korea GM recorded 4,070 units sold in October last year, followed by 2,057 units in November, 1,840 units in December, 1,021 units in January this year, and 1,117 units last month. The recent monthly sales have dropped to around 1,000 units. Renault Korea Motors sold 5,553 units in November last year, 3,243 units in December, 2,116 units in January, and 2,218 units in February. Only SsangYong Motor has maintained a similar level to last year, with 7,850 units in October, 6,421 units in November, 5,520 units in December, 7,130 units in January, and 6,785 units in February.

As sales continue to decline, their market share in Korea has also decreased. In February, Hyundai Motor and Kia accounted for 91.9% of the market share. The remaining three companies only accounted for 8.1%, down 2.1 percentage points from 10.2% the previous month.

The biggest reason for the sales decline of the three mid-sized automakers is the lack of new vehicles. Last year, Korea GM launched the Bolt EV, Bolt EUV, Equinox, Traverse, and Tahoe. However, SsangYong Motor only released the Torres, and Renault Korea Motors only the XM3 E-Tech Hybrid. Two of the three companies survived the year with just one new vehicle each.

This year, the shortage of new vehicles is expected to continue. Renault Korea Motors plans to release the facelifted model of the QM6, called the The New QM6, and SsangYong Motor plans to launch the electric vehicle (U100) based on the Torres, which was released in the second half of last year, in the second half of this year. Korea GM, under GM’s brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC, plans to launch six new or facelifted models. Recently, they released GMC’s pickup truck Sierra.

There are calls for large-scale investment to improve the domestic sales of the three mid-sized automakers. Professor Kim Pil-su of Daelim University said, "Automakers need to sell a lot of cars," adding, "Whether by importing or domestic production, they need to actively invest so that vehicles can meet the tastes of domestic consumers."

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