New models attract more car buyers to boost sales

Local automakers’ domestic sales rose in March compared to the previous year, as newly launched models attracted more customers.

Hyundai Motor’s domestic sales in March increased 7.2 percent year on year, and Kia Motors’ domestic sales grew 19.4 percent during the same period. GM Korea’s jumped 27.6 percent, making it the best performance in March for the automaker.

Hyundai’s Avante and Sonata were the two most-sold cars for the company, and Kia’s new K7 and K5 were popular last month. A total of 9,175 Chevrolet Sparks were sold in March, up 87.7 percent from the previous month, according to the automaker.

Hyundai’s environmentally friendly Ioniq, which was released earlier this year, was the most-sold car in the local hybrid car market for the second consecutive month. Kia Motors’ new Mojave, which was unveiled in January, saw its sales reach 1,929 units, which is the best sales data since 2008.

However, Hyundai and Kia saw their foreign sales drop 2.2 percent and 7.1 percent each from the previous year.

“Emerging markets around the world are slowing down, and the volatile currency made our sales fall,” a Hyundai Motor representative said Friday. “We expect that the global market will continue to stay weak this year, and we will try our best to do better both locally and globally.”

BY KIM JEE-HEE, KIM YOUNG-NAM [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]