Korea Car Sales : 2020

Anyone with a sensitive disposition should have looked away by now

Sales increased 8% for the year, a really impressive result. The country rigourously protects its mainstream producers in various ways while having to accept its better healed citizens buy imported cars...until now. Genesis has become a standalone marque and is taking the fight against the foreign invaders, with a 91% growth in registrations. 

Looking at how things go here leaves me with a feeling there are administrators in the background acting to achieve certain aims. Cars from one place can suddenly fall from grace while others prosper.  Some of the changes do not appear to be through market forces alone. 

To show what I mean, I divided car makes by their source and for 2020. Domestic cars (including a few imported GM models) +8.5%, Germany +33%, USA 0%, UK -16%, Europe Other -22.5% and Japan -44%. All Japanese makes are collectively in retreat mode, due I presume to political fallout. Nissan and Infiniti sales have now ceased altogether. 

VW and Audi were punished a few years back for their emissions scandal and they are in the process of coming back in a big way. Bentley copped it too, but I never could work out why. Mercedes-Benz leads the import brands but sales were slightly down. As to why JLR is suddenly having such a tough time after years of growth I have no idea. Things happen in Korea that are simply baffling.

Data source: KAMA, KAIDA.

VW & Audi are making a comeback