[Consumerwide - HueSoung Jun Reporter / Yohan Bok Reporter] Hybrid cars, which are considered to be environmental cars, are proving to be a major trend in Korea. Both environmental value-based and ordinary consumers are actively purchasing hybrid cars that are known to be excellent in fuel efficiency with environmental aspects, while the sales record of electric cars is shrinking due to a lack of charging infrastructure, short driving distance, and fire risk. Hybrid cars (35,511) ranked second over diesel cars (26,500) in monthly sales records during November. Diesel cars (288,834) are advancing hybrid cars (283,365) in accumulated sales until November. However, concerning the latest hybrid car sales record, it seems that diesel cars will rank second.

These are the November sales trends according to age groups, regions, and brand categories that led to hybrid car sales. The increase in Hybird car sales can be interpreted as a consumption value based on the environment, which has also increased.

According to the "November hybrid car sales record trend" report, we inquired with Carisyoudatalab about whether males and females in their 50s led new Hybird car sales. For the case of female customers, customers in her 50s purchased the most by recording 1935. The rest of the sales record is as follows: in their 40s, 1,479; in their 30s, 1,187; in their 60s, 934; in their 20s, 483; in their 70s, 187. Customers between 30 and 50 seem to be the major customer group. In the case of male customers, customers in their 50s led the new hybrid car sales by recording 5,476. The rest of the sales record is as follows: in their 40s, 4,414, in their 30s, 4,210, in their 60s, 4,080, in their 20s, 1,150, and in their 70s, 686. Customers between 30 and 60 seem to be the major customer group, with each recording over 4 thousand. The record proves that hybrid cars are now popular among major car customers.

In the regional category, the metropolitan area was the hottest ground for new hybrid car sales. Gyeonggi Province (8,191) was the region with the highest record in new hybrid car sales in Korea. Besides, the sales records of Seoul (3,549) and Incheon (2,661) were high as well. The sales records of the rest of the regions are as follows: Gyeongnam 2,545, Jeju 1,998, Jeonnam 1,883, Busan 1,855, Ulsan 1,465, Gyeongbuk 1,555, Chungnam 1,331, Daegu 1,210, Deajeon 1,165, Chungbuk 1,017, Jeonbuk 991, Gwangju 983, Gangwon 830, and Sejong 291.

Korean brands were emphasised compared to overseas cars in new hybrid car sales. The top 10 brands were all Korean brands in the domestic market. In particular, Hyundai and Kia, which all belong to Hyundai Motor Group, exclusively ranked at the top. Hyundai ranked 1·3·6·7·9, while Kia ranked 2·4·5·8·10.

In overseas car competition, the Japanese car brand stood out. In the overseas hybrid sales record, Japanese brands took the top 7 out of 10. In particular, Lexus and Toyota exclusively ranked at the top. Honda, another Japanese brand, couldn't enter the ranks. European brands ranked between 8 and 9. BMW ranked 8 and 10, and Benz 9.

Thus, favouritism towards hybrid cars in new car sales seems to be expanding to overall Korea by diesel consumers and environmental value-based consumers turning to hybrid cars caused by environmental and diesel issues. However, hybrid cars still have homework due to a lack of choice. Currently, the market demand is focused on Hyundai, Kia (Korean brands), Lexus, and Toyota (Japanese brands). I suspect that the release of hybrid models by domestic brands, including Chevrolet, KG Mobility, and other overseas brands, is urgent as well, due to the high demand for hybrids more than electric cars in the Korean market.