Korean Car Market Numbers

On my recent trip to Seoul I watched in earnest at the Korean car market. More imports are present, but still domestics dominate the streets and highways.


This Arirang article cites the inroads of imports...

If you feel that the number of Beetles and Beemers on Korean roads has been rising recently, you are not just imagining it. [ at least for Koreans]. During the past five years, sales of imported cars surged sevenfold in the country. The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association says the number of foreign cars sold in Korea in 2005 amounts to nearly 40,000, up from the 2000 figure of some 4,400. That's nearly a 48 percent annual increase on average. On the other hand, sales of domestic cars in 2005 amounted to just over 910,000 units, down more than 13 percent from five years prior.

The trend continues. In the first quarter of 2006, sales of domestic cars increased nearly 13 percent year-on-year to almost 211,000 units. But that of imported cars surged 68 percent in the same period to over 9,700.

The association cites the rising price of domestic cars together with the strengthening marketing strategies and a wider price-range available from foreign brands. As of the first quarter of this year, imported cars made up 4.3 percent of the domestic automobile market. The figure was a mere 0.4 percent in 2000.