[이데일리 윤종성 기자] The ‘steady seller’ Grandeur maintained the ‘throne’ by ranking first in domestic sales for five consecutive years, and the domestic consumption and export of eco-friendly cars broke all-time records. Through the ‘2021 Automobile Industry Trend’ recently published by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, we took a look at the Korean automobile market last year.
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There are no opponents. It is the story of the Grandeur, who sold the most in Korea last year and once again made a name for itself. According to the Ministry of Industry, the Grandeur became the best-selling car last year with a total of 89,084 units sold in Korea.
After ranking first in domestic passenger car sales with 132,080 units sold in 2017, the Grandeur took the throne for five consecutive years, including △113,101 in 2018, △103,349 in 2019, △145,463 in 2020, △89,084 in 2021. did not lose
Last year, production was disrupted due to a supply and demand shortage of semiconductors, and sales volume decreased slightly, but it was enough to maintain the No. 1 position.
Carnival (73,503 units) came in second place after Grandeur, but the difference in sales with Grandeur was large with 15,581 units. △Avante (71,036 units) △Sorrento (69,934 units) △Sonata (63,109 units) took third to fifth places.
In a situation where various new car models are attracting consumers every year, Grandeur, who first appeared in 1986 and is 37 years old this year, is very active. As a result of swiftly responding to changes in trends, it has been loved for decades and has firmly established itself as a standard car in name and reality.
The semi-large sedan Grandeur was called a ‘symbol of wealth’ and ‘boss car’ until the early 2000s, and was regarded as a synonym for luxury cars.
However, by completely overhauling the exterior design, it threw off the existing heavy and conservative image and targeted a younger customer base with a sporty design. The younger and more sophisticated Grandeur has succeeded in expanding its customer base and is being treated as a ‘people’s car’, beating out representative semi-mid-size and mid-size cars such as Avante and Sonata.
Reasonable price and a positive image considered as an ‘icon of success’ are also considered the secrets of Grandeur’s success. The Grandeur, a semi-large sedan, is sold in the range of 33 million to 45 million won, and it is not much different from the mid-size sedan, but a lot of the advanced specifications installed in luxury cars are applied.
The brand image of ‘Grandeur’, which gives credibility just by the name of the car, is also considered as the background for its popularity regardless of generation. Even while Hyundai Motor launched luxury brands such as Equus and Genesis, the image of ‘Grandeur = luxury car’ did not dissipate. It is analyzed that Grandeur’s various advertisements, promotions, and marketing focused on ‘success’ had a positive effect on its luxury strategy and sales volume.
Meanwhile, domestic automobile sales last year were 1.73 million units, down 8.5% from the previous year (1.89 million units). Domestic cars decreased by 10.4% from the previous year to 1,429,000 units, and imported cars were counted at 297,000 units, up 2% from the previous year.
In the case of imported cars, looking at the sales growth rate by country, Sweden and Germany increased by 17.6% and 2.2%, respectively, but France (-17.5%), UK (-11.2%), USA (-7.2%) and Italy (-3.2%) , Japan (-0.1%), etc. showed a decrease.
