"'Recession is Welcome'... Top 2 Used Car Trades Are Compact Cars Morning and Spark"

Kia Morning and Ray, Including Discontinued Chevrolet Spark
Stand Out in New Car Sales
"High Popularity in December Expected to Maintain Prices"

Despite high interest rates and high inflation dampening consumer sentiment, demand for used cars is gradually increasing. In particular, compact cars, which tend to benefit during economic downturns, are gaining popularity. Analysts say this phenomenon reflects the poor economic conditions.

According to data from Kaizyu Data Research Institute, the number of used car transactions (including only sales, brokerage, and private transactions at the time of ownership transfer) in November totaled 193,550 units. This is a 2.6% increase compared to the same period last year (188,582 units) and a 4.8% increase from the previous month (184,643 units). This marks three consecutive months of growth since September.

Looking at models, the most sold used car in November was the compact Kia Morning (2nd generation), with 3,854 units sold in one month. The second most traded was Chevrolet's compact Spark, with 3,324 units. The Spark is a vehicle whose production was discontinued by Korea GM in October last year, and all remaining inventory was sold out by April this year. Also included in the top 10 by transaction volume were the 2017?2022 Ray (2,214 units), the 2011?2017 Ray (2,196 units), and the 2008?2010 Morning (1,731 units).

These three vehicles account for the majority of all compact car used transactions. According to cumulative statistics for this year, the Kia Morning (all trims combined) recorded 121,035 transactions. The Chevrolet Spark sold 66,328 units, and the Kia Ray sold 46,281 units. Combined, these three models total 233,644 units, representing about 88% of the total cumulative used compact car transactions (264,392 units).

Compact cars also stand out in new car sales. From January to November last year, the only compact car in the new car sales ranking was the Hyundai Casper (8th place, 44,528 units). However, during the same period this year, both the Kia Ray (7th place, 47,525 units) and Hyundai Casper (10th place, 41,248 units) appeared in the rankings. Notably, the previous annual sales record for the Ray was 44,566 units, which has now been surpassed. The Ray EV (electric vehicle), launched last September, is expected to continue driving the popularity of compact cars. Compared to the existing gasoline model, it offers a 15% increase in maximum output and a 55% increase in torque, and with subsidies, it can be purchased for just over 20 million KRW.

Industry insiders expect that the preference for relatively affordable used cars will continue through the end of the year, keeping prices stable. K Car, a direct-operated used car platform company, analyzed the average prices of about 740 models released within the last 12 years and forecasted that the prices of mid-to-low priced used cars in the 10 million KRW range will show a firm upward trend (prices remain mostly stable but slightly higher than previous levels) in December. Vehicles in this price range include mid-sized cars as well as compact cars like the Kia Morning. Jo Eun-hyung, an analyst from K Car’s PM team, said, “Used cars priced around 10 million KRW have depreciated by more than half compared to their new car prices, offering high cost-effectiveness. Due to the subdued consumer sentiment caused by the difficult economic situation, preference for these models is increasing, which will help maintain price stability.”