Compact sedan sales in South Korea in July shrank for the 20 months in a row against a year ago period with demands shifting over to compact sport utility vehicles.

According to data released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on Sunday, a total of 11,068 compact sedans were sold in July, down 2.2 percent from the same month last year. It is the 20th straight month for the compact sedan sales to decline compared to a year ago period.

The compact sedan sales in the January-July period came at 73,177 units, down 10.6 percent on year.

The auto association said the ongoing fall in compact sedan sales is largely due to the latest market trend of consumers preferring compact SUVs over sedans as their extra car.

Compact sedan sales that had topped 200,000 units in 2012 has been shrinking steadily since 2014. Last year, the sales dropped to 138,895 units, down sharply from 173,008 units a year earlier. This year’s sales will likely be even worse, given that the compact sedan sales during the first seven months of this year already was already 10 percent less compared to a year ago period, market watchers predicted.

Meanwhile, compact SUVs are growing more popular in Korea. Last year, total 147,429 compact SUVs were sold in Korea, sharply up from 11,998 units in 2013.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]