April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Kia Motors’ Carnival continued its dominance of the domestic minivan market in the first half and is on pace to make the list of the nation‘s top-five best-selling vehicles this year, the carmaker said on July 17.

Korea’s second-biggest carmaker by sales sold 37,362 Carnivals in the January-June period, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier.

The figure accounted for a whopping 86.2 percent of total minivan sales during the six-month period, which stood at 43,360 units.

The Carnival’s market share, which came to 45.8 percent in 2013, had been on a steady rise following the rollout of its third-generation model a year later before hitting an all-time high in the first half of this year.

Four domestic models and three imported minivans, including GM Korea’s Orlando and Toyota Motor’s Sienna, are currently on sale in Korea.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)