Renault Samsung Motors’ SM6 took the throne in mid-sized Sedan

SM6 of Renault Samsung Motors (RSM) have completely consolidated its position as the new ‘People’s Beloved Car’ by holding No.1 position in mid-sized individual-purpose car registration for 7 consecutive months since its launch in March.

According to the Auto Registration Report by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), 5,148 SM6 vehicles were registered as an individual-purpose vehicle at the month of its launch and pushed aside the model with 3,229 registrations to the second place. By September, the accumulated registration number made even larger gap between the two models. Total of 36,469 units of SM6 were registered as an individual-purpose vehicle while the other were registered by 27,244 units.

Regarding the number of overall registrations – including individual, government, taxies, and corporate-purpose vehicles - SM6 ranked no.2 among the segment by 38,930 units. However, because 93.7% of SM6 were registered as an individual-purpose vehicle, it was able to stand at the top of the category. Meanwhile, for the no.1 model of the overall registrations, only 54.2% (27,244 units) among 50,243 units were registered as individual-purpose.

The accumulated registration number of the top two models during the last 7 months have separated both even wider by more than 9,000 units. If this pace continues, there are high possibilities that the SM6, launched in March, will become this year’s most registered mid-sized individual-purpose car and lead to grand transitional period for Korea’s mid-sized car market.

As of sales, 40,513 units of SM6 were sold by the end of September, which is also an average of 5,800 units during the 7 months since the launch. RSM explained its factors for popularity as the high-quality safety and convenience features available mostly from sub large-sized segments, and luxurious and perfected perception qualities which no other mid-sized sedans in the current market provides.

The actual sales performance of SM6 shows that RSM’s high-end strategy emphasizing ‘premium’ has been a success. The sales of RE and LE trim, the highest and second highest trim of SM6, took 41.9% and 46% of the sales respectively. In short, 88% of sales were made by high-end models.

Evenly proportioned sales of 2.0 gasoline, 1.6 gasoline turbo, LPG and diesel powertrain were also found to be the key of long-lasting popularity. SM6 1.6 TCe, which opened the era of mid-sized sedan with downsized gasoline turbo engine, has been sold by 960 units every month steadily in average. In addition, SM6 dCi, a diesel sedan launched in August, became the best-selling model among the mid-sized Korean diesel sedan after selling 1,413 units by the end of September.