Kia Corp.’s Sorento SUV was favorite choice for Korean men in the first half and smaller Seltos SUV of the same carmaker for women to underscore the popularity of Kia SUVs among home buyers.

According to local market tracker CarIsYou Data Lab on Thursday, a total of 705,132 vehicles were newly registered in the first half, down 11.2 percent from a year ago. Of the vehicles, 325,509 units or 68.3 percent were owned by males, and 150,836 units or 31.7 percent by females.

Men preferred SUVs and big cars. Their top picks were Kia Sorento (20,373 units), Hyundai Palisade (15,516 units), Kia Sportage (14,889 units), and Hyundai Grandeur (14,148 units), and Kia Carnival (12,709 units).

Female favorites were Kia Seltos (9,284 units), Hyundai Casper (9,239 units), Hyundai Avante (8,343 units), Kia Sportage (6,492 units), and Kia Ray (6,359 units).

Top 5 choices bore Hyundai Motor and Kia marques.

By age group, 20s preferred Avante, Sportage, Seltos, Kia K5 and Hyundai Tucson. Avante sold 4,105 units, Sportage 3,486 units, Seltos 3,219 units, K5 2,058 units, and Tucson 1,963 units.

Those in their 30s and 40s liked bigger Sorento and other SUVs, while 50s (Grandeur) and 60s (Sonata) picked sedans.

By Pulse

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