Kia Sorento has become the best-selling SUV for the sixth consecutive month during February with a total of 8,671 units sold. Surprisingly the KIA Carnival got the second place, with a total of 7,989 units sold. Hyundai’s 5th generation Santa Fe sold 7,413 units and found a new rival, the updated Carnival.
Hyundai Motor launched the 5th generation model Santa Fe in August and started selling it only with a gasoline engine. In the first two months when the new Santa Fe sales began, the hybrid model was not available, making it difficult to enjoy the full new car effect.
Back in October, deliveries of the Hybrid model started and sales have jumped significantly. While initially recorded 550 units in August and 4329 units in September, began to enjoy the effect of new car, selling 7946 units in October thanks to the added Hybrid powertrain. Again in November, the Santa Fe reached 8,780 units sold (the best month so far). During December sales decreased to 7,682 units while in January sold 8,016 units, the best data so far, but now in February a new rival take the second place.
Kia also launched the 4th generation Sorento’s facelift in August and started selling it in South Korea. The Kia Sorento was a very popular SUV and ranked first in sales for the past fourth consecutive years.
Will the Carnival reign over Sorento and Santa Fe during March?
The New Sorento maintained sales by continuing the popularity of the existing Sorento, while also achieving an increase in sales due to the new car effect immediately after its launch. It showed a noticeable upward trend, surpassing 7,000 units in August, when the launch took place, and over 10,000 units in September next month.
The new Sorento also ranked first in October domestic car sales, with 8,777 units even in October, when the Santa Fe hybrid began to ship. Of these, hybrid model sales accounted for 65.9% with 5,786 units. Again in November and December, Kia Sorento tops the sales chart with 9,364 units and was close to the 10,000 barrier respectively, while in January sold another 9,284 units.
With the sales data from February, looks like the Santa Fe have lost “the new car moment” rather other new models while Sorento keep ruling it.
