Sales of the midsize SM6 sedan rising notably fast

Sales of Renault Samsung’s midsize SM6 sedan are hitting break-neck speeds.

According to the company, 11,000 SM6 units have already been preordered since the company started accepting buyers on Feb. 1. Excluding the Lunar New Year holiday last month and the weekends, Renault Samsung’s salespeople had just 17 days to hit the number, equivalent to sealing an average 500 purchase contracts every day. This is nearly the same rate achieved by Kia Motors, the nation’s second-largest automaker, when it secured preorder contracts for 8,500 K5 units in three weeks last year.

“The SM6 is stirring up new momentum in the struggling local midsize sedan market,” said Park Dong-hoon, Renault Samsung Motors vice president in sales and marketing.

The most popular model was the 2.0 GDe, which runs on a gasoline engine. It accounted for 58 percent of preordered vehicles.

The second-most popular model was the 1.6 Turbo TCe, accounting for 30 percent, followed by the 2.0 LPe, which runs on liquefied petroleum gas and made up 12 percent of orders.

Those in their 30s were the biggest buyers of the midsize sedan, accounting for 33 percent, followed by people in their 40s at 29 percent.

BY KIM KI-HWAN [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]