The domestic compact car market, which showed signs of resurgence due to the popularity of Casper, a
compact sports utility vehicle ( SUV ) of Hyundai Motor Company, has stalled again. Amid the analysis that Casper, which celebrated its third year of release this year, is losing its new car effect, it is expected that the trend of ignoring compact cars due to the large-sized and high-end products in the domestic automobile market will continue for the time being.
On the other hand, the preference for large vehicles has been shown to continue to increase. As the income level rises and the population enjoying leisure activities increases, sales of sports utility vehicles ( SUVs ) and recreational vehicles ( RVs ) are rapidly increasing.
According to the Kaizuyu Data Research Institute on the 29th, a total of 639,432 passenger cars were sold in Korea between January and May of this year메이저사이트. This is an increase of 8.9% compared to the previous year. As the automotive semiconductor supply and demand crisis was resolved, finished car makers’ production normalized, leading to an increase in sales.
By vehicle class, semi-large cars accounted for 116,726 units, up 32.9% from the previous year. Sales of midsize cars also increased by 12.5% year-on-year to 164,263 units. Small cars (57,180 units) increased by 10.4% and large cars (90,118 units) by 2.6% compared to the previous year, and semi-midsize cars (160,583 units) also increased by 1.2% from last year. Sales of mid-sized and semi-large cars increased significantly, which is attributed to an increase in SUVs and RVs as well as sedans such as the Grandeur.
However, the only compact car sales were 50,562 units, down 8.2% from the same period last year. Last year, sales of compact cars in the domestic market recorded 134,294 units, an increase of more than 35% compared to 2021, recovering to 130,000 units in four years, but this year, it is expected to remain at 110,000 to 120,000 units.
Casper, which led the domestic compact car market, also lost popularity. According to Hyundai Motor’s sales performance, Casper sold 4064 units last month, a decrease of 7.7% compared to the same month last year. Compared to November of last year (5573 units), which recorded the highest sales ever, it is a 27.1% decrease. After all, unlike last year, Casper is slipping out of the top 10 monthly sales list.
In addition to the promotion of large cars, the imported luxury car market, which costs more than 100 million won, is also heating up in Korea. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association ( KAIDA ), the cumulative sales volume of luxury car brands from January to May of this year increased by 27.1% for Porsche, 11% for Bentley, 26.5% for Lamborghini, and 9.9% for Rolls-Royce compared to the same period last year. Ferrari and Aston Martin, which are not caught in KAIDA statistics, are also known to be growing rapidly.
Amidst this trend, the ‘Korea First’ move by luxury car brands is also noticeable. Irene Nikene, head of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Asia Pacific, unveiled the brand’s first pure electric model ‘Specter’ on the 16th and said, “Korea is the fastest growing country in the world and one of Rolls-Royce’s most important markets . ” he emphasized.
In addition, Bentley Chairman Adrian Hallmark, who visited Korea in March, also praised Korea as a country that leads the global luxury market, unveiling the 2.6 billion won Bentley Mulliner Batur for the first time in Asia.