March 2026 Auto Sales: How Kia Outperformed Hyundai in a Competitive Market

In March, five South Korean automakers posted sales gains both domestically and overseas, though performance varied across manufacturers.
 
On the 1st, combined March sales for the five manufacturers — Hyundai Motor, Kia, Korea’s General Motors, Renault Korea and KG Mobility — totaled 714,356 units, up about 1.4% from 704,404 a year earlier.
 
Modest increases in both domestic and export markets lifted overall results. Domestic sales rose from 123,817 to 130,377 units, while exports increased from 580,587 to 583,979 units. Analysts attribute the improvement in part to recent new-model launches.
 
Results diverged by company. Hyundai faced a tougher operating environment amid rising geopolitical risks and other headwinds, and reported a decline in sales. Last month Hyundai sold 358,759 vehicles, down 2.3% from the same month a year earlier, with domestic and overseas volumes falling roughly 2.0% and 2.4%, respectively.
 
By contrast, Kia sold 285,854 vehicles in March and set an all-time record for first-quarter sales since it began car sales in 1962. Its prior Q1 record was 772,648 units, set last year. By segment for the quarter, Kia recorded 141,513 domestic units, 636,527 overseas units and 1,129 specialty vehicles.
 
Korea’s General Motors sold 51,215 units in March, a 24.2% year‑over‑year increase. This marks the second month this year the company topped 40,000 units, following 44,703 in January. While domestic sales fell 34.8%, a 26.2% rise in exports drove the overall improvement.
 
Renault Korea sold 8,996 cars in March, up 9.0% from a year earlier — domestic sales rose 8.4% to 6,630 units and exports were up 10.6% to 2,366 units. KG Mobility recorded 4,582 domestic sales and 5,422 exports for a total of 10,004 units last month, surpassing the 10,000‑unit mark for the first time in six months since September (10,636).
 
An industry official said, “New-model introductions helped lift results, but external uncertainties such as geopolitical risk affected each company differently.”