The underdogs in the Korean automobile market dominated by the country’s largest Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. are making impressive strides and threatening the long-held polarity of Hyundai versus the group of the other brands. GM Korea Co. whose roots go back to one of the oldest Korean carmakers Daewoo Motors, Renault Samsung Motors Co., and Ssangyong Motor Co. currently under ownership of Indian Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. are steadily cutting out bigger presence in the market with upsurge in sales.

GM Korea sold 11,417 cars in Korea in February, up 25 percent from the same period last year in the February sales record in 13 years. Renault Samsung sold 4,263 cars last month, more than double the volume in the same period a year ago. Ssangyong Motor also recorded a 6.3 percent on-year jump to 6,982 units in February.

The three are confident of keeping up the upward momentum in sales led by upgraded new models. GM Korea and Renault Samsung have turned even more eager and aggressive under the new leadership.

James Kim, GM Korea CEO who started office at the beginning of the year, declared an ambitious target of selling 191,000 units this year to achieve a 21 percent growth from last year. It geared up the pipeline with an army of seven new models including Captiva, Malibu, and Volt for this year alone. Kim said the carmaker won’t be indulged in the third rank and wants to steal the second place held by Kia Motors in the longer run.

Park Dong-hoon, the first Korean national CEO to assume Renault Samsung, plans to target the relatively less competitive compact car market in hopes to dominate the segment. He plans to bring in steady-selling hatchback mini Renault Clio to Korea next year, noticing burgeoning demand in the compact category with increasing single households and need for a second family car.

Choi Johng-sik, CEO of Ssangyong for a year now, wants to make inroads into the world’s two largest auto markets - China and later the United States - within the next three to four years. For this year, the carmaker aims to sell 160,000 units and turn out a profit. He pledged to up the annual output to 200,000 units from next year with better profitability.

The confidence of the three carmakers could serve as an impetus to the local stagnant and complacent auto market. Korea’s auto-making foundation could be strengthened if the three can pose more formidable challenge to the world’s fifth largest carmaking group Hyundai-Kia. Automotive and related industries could gain life and jobs could increase if the local auto industry becomes stronger. But to contribute more to the local economy, GM Korea and Renault Samsung must increase manufacturing of finished cars under the GM and Renault names in Korea.

By Jung Hyuk-hoon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]