Ford parts prices show differences by dealerships

By Park Jin-hai

Jung Jae-hee, Ford Korea CEO

The prices of spare parts for Ford vehicles in Korea differ widely between depending on its official dealers, according to data Sunday.

The price gap for the same car part reaches up to over 6 million won ($5,100), local price comparing site Carstera revealed.

Ford Korea has three official dealerships -- Sunin Motors, Premier Motors and Haein Motors -- and the two biggest list the prices of 13,486 parts on their websites.

Prices at Sunin and Premier have shown huge differences for the same parts.

The Ford 500’s cross member, part of the chassis, has the greatest difference.

It is listed at 2.67 million won, with value added tax excluded, on Sunin’s website; while its price shoots up to 8.92 million won on Premier’s website, a 6.25 million won difference.

The price of other parts differs from between 800,000 won and 1.5 million won, according to Carstera. The company’s speed sensor, for instance, which costs 1.9 million won, including the value added tax, at Premier, costs over 1 million won more at Sunin.

Foreign carmakers in Korea have been posting the prices of parts on their websites since Aug. 2 after the government, faced with increasing complaints about how expensive they were, introduced a new rule.

As for the price gap, Ford Korea said unlike other carmakers which import car parts and supply them to dealers, its dealers import the parts separately, and thus the prices cannot be unified.

It also said the price could be different because dealers don’t reflect the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on prices on time.

The ministry obliged carmakers to update parts prices each quarter, however, some dealers don’t comply with the rule, confusing customers.

“To lower the excessively high parts prices for imported cars and protect consumers’ right, automakers should make its dealers display price information transparently,” said Carstera’s spokesman.