South Korea's five main automakers sold 99,843 vehicles on the domestic market in September 2026, down 20% from 124,515 units a year earlier, according to preliminary wholesale data released individually by the manufacturers. The figures exclude low-volume commercial vehicle producers such as Tata-Daewoo and Edison Motors, with import brands reported separately later in the month.

Hyundai Motor drove the decline. Its domestic sales fell 26% year-on-year to 49,022 units, after a 41% plunge in August, which the company blamed mainly on new model changeovers and the Chuseok holidays. Union industrial action had already cut production in the previous two months. Every mainstream manufacturer reported lower domestic sales in September, a slowdown in demand that contrasts with the country's strong economic growth.

For the first nine months of 2026, domestic sales fell 7.6% to 953,480 units, including limited exports of Kia special purpose vehicles, from 1,032,232 units. Hyundai stayed the domestic market leader despite a 16% decline to 448,181 units. Kia's domestic sales rose 5% to 436,301 units. KG Mobility fell 7% to 26,716 units, Renault Korea dropped 32% to 27,203 units, and GM Korea was the worst performer, plunging more than 36% to 7,495 units.

Global sales by the big five, including vehicles produced overseas, slipped 1.4% year-to-date to 5,874,956 units, while overseas sales were marginally higher at 4,921,476 units against 4,920,631 a year earlier.

Hyundai: changeover squeeze ahead of Tucson launch

Hyundai's global sales fell 16% in September to 307,998 units from 366,731, with domestic deliveries down 26% and overseas sales down 14% at 258,976 units. Nine-month global volumes declined 7% to 2,886,763 units, reflecting second-quarter component shortages after a fire at a key supplier plus July and August industrial action.

The company attributed the September drop to fewer working days during Chuseok and model changeovers, with the all-new Tucson SUV scheduled for release in October. Hyundai has not updated the full-year targets set in January: 4.158 million global units including Genesis, domestic sales down 2% to 700,000, and overseas sales up 1% to 3.46 million, including 1,231,000 in North America and 601,000 in Europe. The company says product mix improvements should offset rising competition, economic uncertainty and US import tariffs.

Kia grows on overseas strength

Kia's global sales rose 5.1% to 281,984 units in September, with overseas deliveries up 7.5% to 235,457 units led by the Sportage at 46,387 sales. Domestic sales fell 6.7% to 45,705 units, with the Sorento its best seller at 6,957 units. Nine-month global sales gained 4.4% to 2,478,144 units, with the Sportage leading at 454,040 deliveries. SPV sales, mostly military vehicles, jumped 52% to 5,484 units.

Kia is targeting almost 7% global growth to 3.35 million units this year, including 915,000 US deliveries. It launched the all-new Telluride in the US, the EV2 battery-electric in Europe and the new Seltos, now with a hybrid option, globally.

GM Korea: exports carry the volumes

GM Korea's global sales surged 74% to 41,101 units in September on a near-80% jump in exports to 40,374 units, driven by the Trax crossover and Trailblazer SUV and rebounding from August's summer shutdowns. Domestic sales fell 41% to just 727 units. Year-to-date exports are up 19% to 374,290 units.

The company targets 500,000 vehicles produced in 2026, up from 462,310 in 2025, and has indicated plans to invest US$600 million to upgrade local operations — though a final decision on next-generation model production remains unannounced. It recently unveiled the Chinese-made Buick Electra E7 plug-in hybrid for the domestic line-up.

KGM and Renault Korea struggle

KG Mobility's global sales fell 17% to 8,863 units, as domestic sales halved to 2,100 units while exports rose 3.5% to 6,763 despite new markets including Myanmar and Ethiopia. Chery has agreed to invest US$75 million in KGM to accelerate product development and provide SDV, electrified powertrain and autonomous-driving technologies; KGM plans at least nine new models by 2030.

Renault Korea's global sales dropped 25% to 6,556 units despite the new Filante hybrid SUV, which entered production at the Busan plant in January and domestic sale in April. Nine-month global volumes are down 32% to 47,231 units. Busan is designated as the group's global hub for D- and E-segment and all-electric models.

What to watch next: the October Tucson launch and whether it reverses Hyundai's domestic slide, the monthly import-brand report due later this month, and GM Korea's pending decision on next-generation production tied to its US$600 million upgrade plan.