GM, Renault, KG focus on exports to offset sluggish domestic sales

General Motors (GM) Korea, Renault Korea and KG Mobility are moving to place more strategic focus on boosting exports this year to offset their falling market share here amid domestic carmakers’ widening dominance, according to industry officials and data, Thursday.

They have no other choice, as their presence in Korea is weakening amid aggressive sales expansion of Hyundai Motor and Kia. According to data from market tracker CarIsYou, the combined market share for the nation’s three mid-tier carmakers reached a record low of 8.3 percent in 2023, down 2.5 percentage points from the previous year. This is a shaper decline from 17.1 percent from 2019.

The carmakers are, however, moving to place their management focus on overseas markets, rather than struggling to increase their share here, as they seek to continue their winning streak in exports.

GM Korea sold more than 420,000 vehicles to overseas markets last year, which accounts for around 90 percent of its total sales. Its exports surged by 88 percent from the previous year, the highest level since 2015. GM’s key export driver was its Trailblazer mid-sized SUV and Trax compact SUV.

KG Mobility also reported export growth of 17.6 percent during the same period, buoyed by robust sales of its Torres SUV. The company aims to expand its presence in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region this year.

2023 is a meaningful year for the carmaker, as it is widely expected to have achieved a major turnaround last year for the first time since 2016. Even if KG still relies more on the domestic market, its plans to expand its sales portion to untapped territories, such as the Middle East and Africa.

Renault Korea was the only firm to have suffered an export decline last year. According to the carmaker, its exports fell by 29.7 percent during the same period, but its sales for the Korean market extended a bigger loss of 58.1 percent. The company seeks to regain its glory with a planned launch of its strategic mid-sized hybrid SUV, which will be unveiled sometime in the latter half of the year.

“It appears realistically difficult for the carmakers to put the brakes on the widening market power exuded by Hyundai Motor and Kia in the local market, so their reliance on exports will be acclerated down the road," an official from a local carmaker said.