Casper's Box Office Success... The Diverging Fortunes of the Three Kei Car Brothers

Only Ray Sales Up... Can Casper Become the Closer?

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Hyundai Motor's new compact sports utility vehicle (SUV), Casper, is creating a sales frenzy, while the sales performance of the three compact car models that previously divided the compact car market is showing mixed results.

According to the industry on the 16th, Kia Morning's sales in September were 1,937 units, down 20.5% compared to the same month last year. The Chevrolet Spark from Korea GM, which has a similar shape to the Morning, also saw a 52.1% decrease, with 1,287 units sold.

The only compact car model to maintain its reputation is the Kia Ray. Ray, the only box car model among the three compact cars, sold 3,030 units, a 32.1% increase compared to the previous year. Compared to the previous month, sales increased by as much as 67.0%. The industry expects that if this trend continues, Ray's annual sales volume could exceed 30,000 units this year.

Meanwhile, Casper is accelerating. Hyundai's Casper, launched last month, recorded 18,940 units sold on the first day of pre-orders alone, marking the highest first-day sales in the history of internal combustion engine vehicles. It easily surpassed this year's annual production target of 12,000 units in just one day. The cumulative pre-order volume is reported to be about 40,000 units.

The industry views the mixed sales results of the existing three compact cars as reflecting the trend of the automobile market toward larger and more premium vehicles. The compact car market has been continuously declining since breaking the 100,000-unit sales barrier last year. Only Ray, whose sales have increased due to the recent popularity of 'car camping (chabak)', is seeing growth in sales.

An industry official said, "As the compact car market is generally shrinking, Korea GM is preparing to discontinue the Spark next year, and Donghee Auto, which produces the Morning and Ray, is suffering from a lack of work. However, with the domestic discontinuation of the Soul, Ray, which has secured the status of the only box car and mini multipurpose vehicle (MPV) in Korea, is performing well," he said.

There are many opinions that it is still uncertain whether Casper can become the savior of the compact car market. Professor Lee Ho-geun of Daeduk College said, "The production target this year is only about 12,000 units, and since the compact car market is shrinking so much, it is somewhat premature to say that Casper's pre-orders have led to the poor performance of other models. Despite its strengths such as attractive design, there are constraints like price, so whether Casper can be an alternative in the compact car market will have to be seen until next year when production volume increases," he said.