In cars, different strokes for different folks

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In cars, different strokes for different folks

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The Hyundai Grandeur IG, Genesis G80, Kia Sorento and SsangYong G4 Rexton are some of the best-selling cars in their respective classes, but there is another factor that unites these models: they were the most searched online by consumers in their 50s.

Upon request from the JoongAng Ilbo, Daum Kakao analyzed search records related to cars on its search engine Daum and messaging app KakaoTalk during the year 2017. Click data in relevant pages was also counted for the analysis.

Results showed that the vehicle most frequently searched by consumers in their 50s was Hyundai Motor’s full-size sedan, the Grandeur IG, which accounted for 18 percent of all searches made online by this age group.

On the other hand, the same model ranked 25th by search volume among consumers in their 20s.

The Grandeur IG was the best seller of 2017, having sold 132,080 and surpassing both domestic and foreign competitors across all classes. The year-on-year increase from 2016 was 92.2 percent.

Hyundai’s luxury midsize sedan, the Genesis G80, sold 41,567 last year, outperforming the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (32,653) by 9,000. The E-Class sold 8,000 more than the BMW 5 Series (24,220).

The sales ranking corresponded to the online search records of consumers in their 50s.

The Genesis G80 was the second most-searched car on the internet, the Benz E-Class was seventh and BMW 5 Series was 13th.

Consumers in their 20s, on other hand, showed more interest in Mercedes-Benz’s compact C-Class sedan than the midsize E-Class. The C-Class was 16th and E-Class 24th.

Those in their 30s preferred the E-Class, at fifth, compared to the Genesis G80, ranked 14.

The analysis suggests that the purchasing power of the 50s age group led their online research to actual car purchases. The car with the largest search volume last year was Kia’s Stinger sports sedan.

Released on May 23, its accumulated search volume for the following seven months surpassed all other competitors.

The model was particularly popular among those in their 30s and 40s. The Stinger ranked No. 1 in search volume in both age groups with a share of 21 percent and 17 percent.

However, sales figures were relatively low. The sales volume of Kia’s Stinger between May and December was 6,122, around 76.5 percent of the 8,000 that the company had aimed for last year.

The conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis is that interest among consumers in their 30s and 40s does not necessarily translate to sales.

The popularity of subcompact and small sport utility vehicles last year also showed in online search data.

The second most-looked up model was SsangYong’s Tivoli. Other small SUVs at the top of the list included Hyundai’s Kona (No. 4), Kia’s Niro (No. 11) and Renault Samsung’s QM3 (No. 15).

The best-seller in the category was SsangYong’s Tivoli. It sold 55,280 and was particularly popular among female consumers.

The Tivoli was one of the top four models searched for by women online, whereas its search volume among men was very low.


BY MOON HEE-CHUL [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
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