Korea’s full-size car sales surged in the first half of this year thanks to the popularity of the fifth-generation Grandeur sedan made by top automaker Hyundai Motor Co., industry data showed Monday.

Domestic sales of full or large luxury sedans jumped 39.6 percent on-year to 112,927 units in the January-June period. The increase far outstrips overall car sales in the country that grew 4.1 percent to 739,144 units in the cited period.

“The surge in sales of full-size cars was mainly due to the demand for the Grandeur model, whose sales reached 60,077 units since being released on the market early this year,” an industry source said.

He pointed out that during the same period, sales of other large cars generally decreased compared to 2010.

“With the exception of the Alpheon made by GM Korea Co., the Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., sales of large cars sales have fallen off,” the source said. The Alpheon was first marketed in the second half of last year.

He said demand for the Equus luxury sedan, also made by Hyundai, decreased 11.9 percent on-year with numbers for the K7, manufactured by Hyundai’s sister company, Kia Motors Corp., falling 44 percent on-year. Sales numbers for the SM7 made by Renault Samsung Motors Co., the local unit of France’s Renault SA, plunged

35.1 percent in the first half, it said.

Hyundai, meanwhile, said consumers were attracted by the stylish exterior of its new Grandeur sedan and its good driving characteristics and expected sales to do well in the coming months.

The model, which is marketed in the United States as the Azera, is expected to be sold in foreign countries like China late this year before reaching the North American market in early 2012.

(Yonhap News)