Korea Car/LCV Sales: 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Hyundai/Kia/Genesis has 72.3% of the market between them. That's what protectionism gives you. Boring for car buyers, but good for the economy. The importers that can overcome that hurdle are of the premium variety. 

Kia has passed Hyundai in an 'exciting' race at the top and is now pulling away. As Hyundai does better with LCVs, Kia's PC lead is even more pronounced. Hyundai is moving upmarket and that's probably the reason. 

Kia has by far the best selling vehicle in the form of the Sorento. It has three of the top four as it stands now. 

Tesla is doing well this year as is new arrival BYD, the latter only in its second year here. Smaller US brands Chevrolet, Jeep, Ford, Cadillac and Lincoln all declined. GMC was the exception. 

Some lower volume marques choose not to release sales figures, but this list gives a good overall coverage of the market. 

Data source: KAMA, KAIDA. Photos: Tesla Y & Hyundai Casper (Inster).

Japan Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were up 1% in August and also up 1% YTD. Toyota continues its dominance, despite not competing in the large Kei class. Japanese brands continue to control the market, with Korean and Chinese brands not even causing a ripple.  

Tesla's figure is an estimate, based on extras less what is likely. It certainly is having a good year so far. Chrysler, GM and Ford aren't doing well. Jaguar says sayonara until the super luxury reincarnation arrives. 

The top ten models are to the right. A yellow background denotes Kei cars. The source combines the Yaris and Yaris Cross models. All the regular models are Toyotas. The Honda N-Box remains king. 

Japanese brands don't import many of their cars made in overseas factories. 81,200 in total have been imported so far. Suzuki contributed just over half of those with 43,100 units. Honda 19,000, Toyota 13,000, Mazda 3,400 amd Nissan 2700. 

Data source: JAMA, JAIA. Photos: Toyota bZ4X & Nissan Serena. 

Argentina Car/LCV Sales: 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were down 19% in August and down 13% YTD. Toyota has led since 2021, when it took over from VW. They both have taken a hit in their market share as has Renault and Jeep. 

Import duty on fully built up vehicle has given local manufacturers protection. It's complicated. Vehicles imported from MERCOSUR  nations (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia) are tariff free. Mexico (quota-based) and Ecuador have reduced or zero tariffs on light vehicles. 

Up to 50,000 units of electric and hybrid vehicles can be imported tariff free annually. This especially benefits vehicles from China but how the 50k limit is applied if reached I'm unsure. It could explain why the top brands have reduced market share. 

Data source: ACARA. Photo: VW (Amarok).