South Korea report: domestic sales up 5% in June

GlobalData

Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 1:32 PM 9 min read

Domestic sales by South Korea’s five main automakers combined increased by almost 5% to 117,390 units in June 2025 from 111,851 units a year earlier, according to preliminary wholesale data released individually by the manufacturers. The data do not include sales by South Korea’s low-volume commercial vehicle manufacturers including Tata-Daewoo and Edison Motors, while import brands are covered in a separate report later in the month.

The domestic vehicle market last month continued to be supported by the recent roll-out of new products, particularly by the country’s largest automakers Hyundai and Kia. Overall demand in the country remains sluggish, however, due to high household debt and weak sentiment. The latest economic data showed GDP shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2025, after growing by 2.0% in 2024. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a further 25 basis points to 2.50% in May, down from a peak of 3.50% in 2024.

In the first six months of the year the country’s five main domestic vehicle manufacturers reported a 2.7% increase in domestic sales to 687,932 units combined, from 669,592 in the same period last year. Hyundai drove the market higher in this period with sales rising by 2.7% to 354,900 units, while Kia’s sales increased just slightly to 276,423 units. Renault Korea reported a 150% surge in domestic sales to 28,065 units year-to-date, reflecting the recent launch of the new Geely-based Grand Koleos Hybrid SUV, while KG Mobility saw its sales drop by 24% to 18,321 units and GM Korea’s volumes plunged by 40% to 8,121 units.

Global sales by the country’s “big-five” automakers, including vehicles produced overseas, increased slightly to 4,003,240 units in the first six months of 2025 from 3,987,661 units a year earlier – with overseas sales declining slightly to 3,315,308 units from 3,316,284 previously.

Hyundai Motor’s global sales rose by 1.5% to 358,891 vehicles in June 2025 from 353,566 a year earlier, reflecting stronger domestic and overseas sales. In the first half of the year the company sold a total of 2,066,425 vehicles, slightly higher than the 2,063,844 units sold in the same period last year.

Domestic sales rose by 3.8% to 62,064 units last month from 59,804 a year earlier, resulting in a 2.7% increase to 354,900 units in the first six months of the year from 345,704 previously. Overseas sales increased by 1.5% to 358,891 units in June from 353,566 units a year earlier, while year-to-date volumes were down slightly to 1,711,525 from 1,718,410 units, with strong sales in North America offset by weak demand in India.