SUVs Dominating Domestic Passenger Vehicle Market

Hyundai Motor Co.’s new entry-level SUV Casper is seen in this photo provided by the automaker on Sept. 14, 2021.

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are sweeping South Korea’s car sales charts this year, thanks to a shift in consumer sentiment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and carmakers’ profitability-centered strategy.

The domestic sales of SUVs, including recreational vehicles (RVs), stood at 618,384 units in the first nine months of this year and the share of SUVs among overall sales stood at 58 percent, higher than 34 percent for sedans, according to the data by Carisyou Data Lab.

During the same period, the number of SUVs included in the list of top 20 selling models was higher than that of sedans.

Although Hyundai Motor Co.’s Grandeur sedan ranked first, 13 SUV models were included among the top 20 models.

The popularity of SUVs reflects carmakers’ new strategy and a shift in consumer preferences.

Domestic carmakers and imported car sellers are recently placing more focus on releasing new SUV models with higher profitability aimed at improving their product mix.

Another factor behind the rising popularity of SUVs is the significant improvement in driving comfort thanks to technological development.

Adding more fuel to the popularity of SUVs is the increase in local consumers’ interest in “chabak,” a newly coined word that means sleeping and staying in a car during travel, since the pandemic.

J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)