February 2026 Automotive Industry Shrinks Internal Motor Vehicles... Eco-friendly cars break record performance

*This content was translated by AI.

In February 2026, South Korea's auto industry recorded a temporary decline in all indicators of production, domestic demand and exports compared to the same month last year due to seasonal factors such as a three-day decrease in working days following the Lunar New Year holiday. However, despite this contraction, exports of eco-friendly cars have reached a record high.

According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, cumulative exports of eco-friendly cars reached 4.5 billion dollars between January and February 2026, up 20.4% year-on-year, reaching an all-time high. This is significantly above the previous record of just $3.82 billion in 2023 and $3.79 billion in 2024. Looking at the detailed performance for the month of February, auto exports fell 18.5 percent year-on-year to 190,000 units on a log basis, and 20.8 percent on an amount basis to $4.8 billion. The cause is a decrease in the number of working days. However, thanks to solid export growth of hybrid cars, the total export volume of eco-friendly cars fell by 2.3%. In particular, hybrid car exports rose 23.5% year-on-year to $1.21 billion, serving as a support for overall exports.

By carmaker, GM Korea and Renault Korea maintained relatively stable performance, focusing on major export models. The domestic market also remained at 12.3 million units, down 7.2 percent year-on-year, but the growth of the eco-friendly car sector is noteworthy. Domestic sales of eco-friendly cars rose 26.3% year-on-year to 7.6 million units, of which electric vehicle sales jumped 156.2% year-on-year to 3.6 million units, becoming a key driver of the domestic market.

Kia Sorento topped the domestic sales list by car model with 7,693 units, followed closely by Tesla Model Y with 7,015 units, ranking second. It was followed by Hyundai Sonata (4,436 units), Kia PV5 (3,967 units), and Hyundai Grandeur (3,933 units). In particular, Kia's PV5 ranked fourth in domestic sales even though it was in the early stages of its launch.

The production sector fell 21.0% year-on-year to 2.78 million units. Production by model was in the order of Trax (240,000 units), Avante (180,000 units), Sportage (170,000 units), Kona (160,000 units), and Sorento (130,000 units). GM Korea's Trax topped the list with 22,696 units, while Avante (14,793 units), Kona (13,599 units) and Sportage (13,365 units) were listed at the top.In terms of domestic sales share by company, Hyundai Motor ranked first with 38.1% (47,008 units) and Kia ranked second with 34.1% (42,066 units). In particular, Tesla sold 7,868 units in February, securing a 6.4% market share, growing 254.1% year-on-year to become the overwhelming No. 1 import car brand and No. 3 overall market share.

BMW (5.1%) followed by Mercedes-Benz (4.3%) and KG Mobility (3.0%). The total sales of imported cars increased 30.5% year-on-year to 280,000 units, in contrast to the decline in domestic cars (△14.6%.Exports by region were the largest in North America at $2.41 billion, but fell 23.9% year-on-year, and the U.S. also fell 29.4% to $1.94 billion. Exports to the EU also fell 20.0% to $640 million. Latin America, on the other hand, rose 21.7% to $220 million, while other European regions also recorded modest growth of 1.7%.

In terms of domestic demand by eco-friendly car model, hybrid vehicles fell 13.8% year-on-year to 38,000 units, but electric vehicles increased 156.2% to 3.6,000, and hydrogen vehicles also increased 57.8% to 467. As a result, in February 2026, the automobile industry is considered to have solidified the foundation for qualitative growth by upgrading the export structure centered on eco-friendly vehicles and expanding the electric vehicle domestic market despite short-term variables such as a decrease in working days.

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*This content was translated by AI.