August Complete Vehicle Sales of 5 Companies Reach 615,000 Units Domestically and Abroad
Up 12% Year-on-Year... Sales Increase in August Following July
Ssangyong Torres Rises to 7th Place in Domestic Passenger Cars
Finished vehicles waiting at the export shipment dock and yard of Hyundai Motor Company's Ulsan Plant [Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Following July, the domestic and overseas sales of five major domestic automakers continued their upward trend last month. The industry views that the supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 and the Russian invasion have somewhat improved.
According to the combined domestic and overseas sales performance announced by each company on the 1st, the total sales volume of the five automakers was recorded at 615,186 units. Compared to August of last year, this represents an increase of about 12%. Last month also showed a year-on-year increase, continuing the upward trend for two consecutive months.
Except for Korea GM, all recorded double-digit growth. Hyundai Motor saw an increase of about 12% compared to the same period last year, followed by Kia (10%), Renault Korea (31.4%), and SsangYong Motor (38%), all showing simultaneous growth. Korea GM increased by 9.6%.
Overall, export performance was strong. Hyundai Motor's domestic sales were somewhat sluggish, but overseas sales increased by about 15%. Kia's domestic sales rose by 1%, while overseas sales increased by nearly 13%. Korea GM and Renault Korea also showed a decline in domestic sales but a significant increase in overseas exports.
Korea GM saw a balanced increase in exports across all models, and Renault Korea's compact SUV XM3 (export name Arkana) experienced a significant export increase due to strong local sales in Europe. SsangYong Motor's domestic sales centered on new models Torres and Rexton Sports showed favorable results. Torres sold 3,637 units domestically last month alone, ranking 9th overall among domestic models (7th among passenger cars). Considering that the top 20 or so best-selling models were dominated by Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, this is a commendable performance.
Recently, the finished car market has been facing a shortage of inventory both domestically and internationally. Production was not smooth due to disruptions in the supply of parts such as automotive semiconductors. Some models took several months to order, and in some cases, more than 1 to 2 years.
However, signs indicating that these supply chain difficulties have somewhat eased have been detected in various places recently. Some automakers, who had kept some production lines idle due to lack of parts, have reportedly started working overtime recently.
An industry insider said, "Including overseas, the order backlog is at the level of several million units, so delivery times have not been shortened immediately, but overall production volume has increased."
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