In recent years, the Hyundai Santa Fe has consistently lagged behind its sibling, the Kia Sorento, in terms of sales. To end this situation, Hyundai has developed and launched the new generation Santa Fe earlier than planned.
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In August 2023, the new generation Hyundai Santa Fe was officially introduced in the domestic market of South Korea with a refreshed design and more luxurious features. However, not long after that, the upgraded version of Kia Sorento was also introduced in the land of Kimchi.
In the past year 2023, Hyundai Santa Fe continued to sell fewer units than Kia Sorento on its home turf. Specifically, Hyundai sold 51,343 Santa Fe units to Korean customers, while Kia Sorento sold 85,811 units. With these results, Kia Sorento ranked 3rd in the overall Korean market, 5 places higher than Hyundai Santa Fe. At the same time, Kia Sorento was also the best-selling SUV in South Korea last year.
Hyundai Santa Fe, despite getting a new generation, still cannot surpass Kia Sorento
Hyundai Santa Fe gets a new generation while Kia Sorento is also upgraded
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One of the reasons why the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe sells fewer units than Kia Sorento is due to its controversial exterior design, especially in the rear trunk area. In addition, it wasn’t until October 2023 that the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid version was introduced in the Korean market.
The best-selling car in the Korean market in 2023 was the Hyundai Grandeur – a mid-size luxury sedan. Positioned higher than the Sonata, the Hyundai Grandeur achieved sales of up to 113,062 units. This is the second time this model has achieved sales of over 100,000 units in the Korean market, after 2020. It is known that over half of the total sales of Hyundai Grandeur in the past year were hybrid versions.
The second best-selling model in the Korean market last year was the Hyundai Porter truck. This model achieved sales of 97,675 units in 2023. This is also a commercial truck model that regularly achieves cumulative sales of over 90,000 units per year in this market.
Next is the Kia Carnival with cumulative sales of 69,857 units, ranking 4th in the overall market. Despite not being a cheap model, the Kia Carnival still achieved impressive sales.
The 5th position in the overall market belongs to the Sportage – another member of the Kia family. In the past year, the Koreans bought a total of 69,749 units of the Kia Sportage. Thanks to that, it is the second best-selling SUV in South Korea, just behind its sibling Sorento.
Following the Kia Sportage in terms of sales is the Hyundai Avante, also known as the Elantra in Vietnam. This mid-size sedan achieved sales of 65,364 units in 2023 and ranked 2nd in the sedan segment in the Korean market, after the Grandeur.
The 7th best-selling model in the Korean market last year was the Kia Bongo truck. This model brought in sales of 62,919 units for the Kia brand.
Rounding out the top 10 and occupying the 9th position in the overall market was the small Kia Ray with sales of 50,930 units. The final model in the top 10 is the Kia Seltos with sales of 50,837 units.
| Rank | Car Model | 2023 Sales (units) |
| 1 | Hyundai Grandeur | 113,062 |
| 2 | Hyundai Porter | 97,675 |
| 3 | Kia Sorento | 85,811 |
| 4 | Kia Carnival | 69,857 |
| 5 | Kia Sportage | 69,749 |
| 6 | Hyundai Avante | 65,364 |
| 7 | Kia Bongo | 62,919 |
| 8 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 51,343 |
| 9 | Kia Ray | 50,930 |
| 10 | Kia Seltos | 50,837 |
Top 10 best-selling cars in South Korea in 2023
Thus, it can be seen that the top 10 best-selling cars in the South Korean market in 2023 do not include two familiar names to Vietnamese consumers, the Hyundai Tucson and Palisade. In the past year, the Hyundai Tucson achieved sales of 43,744 units, while the Palisade sold 41,093 units. The pair of Kia sedans, K5 and K3, also had modest sales, with 34,579 units and 13,204 units, respectively.
It is not surprising that the top 10 best-selling cars in the Korean market in 2023 are dominated by the two national brands, Hyundai and Kia. Not only in Korea but also internationally, consumers are very fond of cars from these two brands. In 2023, the Hyundai Motor Group, including Hyundai and Kia, ranked 3rd globally in terms of sales with 7.3 million units, an increase of 6.7%. Of these, Hyundai contributed 4,216,680 units and Kia contributed 3,085,771 units. These are all new sales records for the two Korean brands.
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