Hyundai Motor’s premium brand Genesis surpassed Mercedes-Benz in sales for the first time in four years in the local market, industry data showed Monday.

According to the auto industry, Genesis sold 60,005 vehicles in the January-July period this year, while Mercedes-Benz and BMW sold 41,583 and 29,246, respectively.

Sales of Genesis jumped 65 percent compared to the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz, on the other hand, increased 3 percent and BMW rose by 35 percent.

In 2016, the year after the brand was launched, sales of Genesis (66,278 units) were ahead of Mercedes-Benz (56,343) and BMW (48,459). That year, the G80 with minor model changes and the EQ900 (G90) had sold 42,950 and 23,328 vehicles, respectively.

However, Genesis yielded the top spot to Mercedes-Benz for the next three years. It also lost ground to BMW in 2017 and 2018.

In 2019, Genesis managed to beat BMW (44,191) by selling 56,801 units. But, Mercedes-Benz still retained its top stop with sales of 78,133 vehicles.

This year, the G80 and GV80 improved on the notable performance.

In January, Genesis’ first sport utility vehicle, the GV80, was launched and the third-generation G80 was released two months later. By July, the GV80 had sold 20,016 units, nearly reaching this year’s goal of 24,000. The G80 sold 28,993, surpassing its annual sales last year.

Hyundai plans to introduce the GV70 and G70 with minor model changes in the second half of the year.

Overall car sales in the Korean market have been strong, according to separate data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Commerce on Monday.

A total of 164,539 vehicles have been sold, up 8.9 percent year-on-year.

Hyundai Motor saw a 28.4 percent increase in sales due to new and popular models such as the Avante, Grandeur, G80, Santa Fe and Palisade. Kia Motors managed to maintain the same level, as the Sorento, K5 and Bongo 3 drove domestic demand. GM Korea saw a 3.5 percent increase on-year due to brisk sales of new cars, such as its Trailblazer.

On the other hand, SsangYong Motor saw a 23 percent decrease on-year due to an overall fall in demand. Renault Samsung’s sales also declined 24.2 percent due to reduced sales of small and medium-sized SUVs such as the XM3 and QM6.

As for imported car brands, sales of German brands increased while Japanese brands were sluggish.

Sales of Japanese brands, including Toyota, Lexus, Nissan and Infiniti, dropped by 39.6 percent on average. German brands increased 11.7 percent due to new cars such as the Audi A6, Q7 and Q8, as well as Volkswagen’s Tiguan. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)