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.
The company’s new EV plant in the US state of Georgia became operational last October, producing the Ioniq 5, followed by the Ioniq 9 earlier this year. A Kia model is also set to go into production in 2026. The automaker said it will expand capacity at the plant to 500,000 units per year later in the decade from 300,000 at present.
Earlier this year Hyundai set a target of 4,174,000 global vehicle sales for 2025, including its Genesis luxury brand, representing a slight increase over 2024 volumes. This includes 710,000 domestic sales and 3,464,000 overseas sales. In response to the recent US import duty hikes and rising international competition, the automaker stated: “Hyundai will respond flexibly and with agility to the changing global market environment through local production and sales optimization. The company will particularly focus on maintaining its sales volume of hybrid models, while introducing new models to sustain sales growth momentum.”
Kia’s global sales increased slightly to 269,652 vehicles in June from 269,201 a year earlier, supported by strong demand for recently-launched SUV models such as the Sportage and Seltos, with 47,492 and 27,665 deliveries respectively, and the Sorento with 19,758 units. In the first six months of the year, Kia’s global sales rose by 2.0% to 1,587,161 units from 1,555,697 a year earlier.
Domestic sales rose by 4.5% to 46,003 units last month from 44,003 units a year earlier, with the Sorento being its best-selling model with 7,923 domestic deliveries, followed by the Carnival MPV with 6,714 sales and the Sportage with 6,363 units. First-half domestic sales increased slightly to 276,423 units from 275,240 a year earlier. The company sold a further 2,102 special purpose vehicles (SPVs), up from 2,055 a year earlier, most of which were military vehicles delivered domestically.
Overseas sales declined by 1% to 222,997 units in June from 224,728 a year earlier, but were up by 2.9% to 1,308,636 units year-to-date from 1,278,402 units, underpinned by an 8% rise in US sales to 416,511units. The Sportage was the brand’s best-selling model overseas last month with 41,129 deliveries.
Kia is targeting a 4% increase in global sales to 3,216,200 units in 2025, including 550,000 domestic sales, 2,658,000 overseas sales and 8,200 SPV sales, supported by the recent launch of the new K4 and revamped K5 sedans and the Syros SUV in India. In the first quarter of the year the company rolled out its new Tasman pickup truck and the EV4 battery-powered sedan, to be followed by the PV5 and EV5 models this year. The company’s medium-term plan is to sell 4.3 million vehicles globally by 2030, including 1.6 million BEVs.
GM Korea’sglobal sales fell by 7.6% to 45,165 units in June from 48,860 units a year earlier, reflecting weaker domestic and overseas sales, while in the first six months of the year volumes dropped by 7.4% to 249,355 from 269,422 units. The Trailblazer SUV and Trax crossover vehicle remain by far the company’s best-selling models, with most output shipped overseas.
Domestic sales continued to plunge last month, by 33% to 1,279 units from 1,901 units a year earlier, while year-to-date sales were down by 40 % to 8,121 units from 13,457 units – as the automaker struggled with rising competition from other domestic manufacturers and from importers.
Exports fell by 6.5% to 43,886 units in June from 46,959 a year earlier and by almost 6% to 241,234 year-to-date from 255,965 units. With around 85% of output shipped to the US last year, GM Korea’s CFO Paul Jacobson recently told reporters that the company may consider relocating its operations to the US if the recent US import tariff hikes become permanent.
KG Mobility (KGM) reported a 1.4% decline in global sales to 9,231 vehicles in June from 9,358 units a year earlier, reflecting sharply lower domestic sales, resulting in an almost 6% drop to 53,272 in the first six months of the year from 56,565 units. The company, previously known as Ssangyong Motor, was acquired in late 2022 by a consortium led by local steel and chemicals firm KG Group.
Domestic sales fell by 26% to 3,031 units last month from 4,102 a year earlier, resulting in a 24% drop to 18,321 units year-to-date from 23,978 units, as the automaker struggled to keep up with rising competition from other domestic manufacturers and from importers.
Overseas sales increased by 18% to 6,200 in June from 5,256 a year earlier, while year-to-date volumes rose by over 7% to 34,951 units from 32,587 units, as the company continued to expand its global market coverage.
KGM plans to further expand its zero-emissions vehicle range, following the launch of a new minivan version of the Torres EVX battery-powered SUV last September. Earlier this year the company launched the new battery-powered Musso EV pickup truck, and is scheduled to begin sales of the Actyon Hybrid later this month.
KGM recently entered into a strategic partnership with China’s Chery Automobile Company, involving platform licensing and product sharing aimed at helping it strengthen its SUV line-up. The deal will also give KGM access to readily available new energy vehicle (NEV) technologies including vehicle platforms. The automaker in June said it plans to introduce at least seven new models by 2030.
Renault Korea‘s global sales fell by 5% to 8,568 units in June from an already weak 9,002 units a year earlier, reflecting a sharp drop in exports. In the first six months of the year, global sales rose by almost 12% to 47,027 units from 42,133 previously.
Domestic sales more than doubled to 5,013 units last month from 2,041 units a year earlier, resulting in year-to-date volumes surging by 150% to 28,065 from 11,213 units – reflecting mainly the recent launch of the new Geely-based Grand Koleos Hybrid SUV. The company recently restructured its assembly plant in Busan, resulting in more production being allocated for the local market.
Exports plunged by 49% to 3,555 units in June from 6,961 a year earlier and were down by 39% to 18,962 units in the first six months of the year from 30,920 units, mostly comprising shipments of the Arkana hybrid crossover vehicle (a rebadged XM3).
Renault Korea last year confirmed it will continue to overhaul its product range with a strong focus on SUVs, BEVs and hybrid vehicles, starting with the launch of the new Geely-based Grand Koleos hybrid SUV last July and the phasing out of its aging SM6 mid-size sedan at the end of last year. The company recently agreed to produce the Geely Polestar 4 BEV at its Busan plant from the second half of 2025, for sale domestically and for export.
“South Korea report: domestic sales up 5% in June” was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
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