Hyundai and Kia Hit Record Low in Their Home Country

Things are looking a little rough for Hyundai and Kia in their home market. Even with their foreign performance aside, for the first time in history the Korean manufacturers have slipped below a 60% market share in their own domestic market. Part of this is due to a decline in output due to labour strikes, as well as a strong rise in the sales of foreign automotive products. The current combined market share of the two sits at 58.9% according to industry data from last Friday.

Even if we look at locally produced foreign products, the combined total market share sits at 26.7%, with fully imported cars coming in at 13.9%. Other small local rivals are becoming fiercely competitive, snapping up market share in the wake of Hyundai and Kia's decline. This year is the seventh in a series of year on year decline for the two brands, starting at 80% in 2009, to 67.7% through 2015, and now down to 58.9%. Data and information are sourced from Yonhap.