KAIDA forecast slower imported car growth next year
Jung Jae-hee, KAIDA chairman and Ford Korea CEO, makes his opening speech at an event to mark its 20th anniversary, at Banyan Tree Club and Spa in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap
By Park Jin-hai
The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) expects the local imported vehicle market, which has posted double-digit growth in recent years, to have slower growth next year.
This announcement was made during the 20th anniversary of the organization, Wednesday.
It predicts 255,000 imported vehicles will be sold here next year, an increase of 8.5 percent from this year.
It is a conservative figure, in consideration of the market developments at home and abroad that adversely affect the local industry.
Apart from the Volkswagen scandal that is shaking confidence in German cars, lawmakers are moving to revise tax and insurance codes affecting the industry.
“For the past two decades, KAIDA has worked hard to make the foundation for growth,” said Jung Jae-hee, KAIDA chairman and Ford Korea CEO, during the celebration at Banyan Tree Club and Spa in Seoul, Wednesday. “We believe now is the time we should think about quality, rather than quantity.”
KAIDA said the total number of imported cars sold this year is predicted to reach 235,000, from 196,300 in 2014, and 156,500 in 2013.
As of October, 196,543 imported cars have been sold, taking the market share to 15.8 percent.
Regarding recent government moves, the association has shown concern. “All those measures should be pushed ahead in order to have fairness (in the tax system),” Jung said. “They should not be targeted to dampen the imported car industry.”
Yoon Dae-sung, executive manager of KAIDA, said, “We don’t disagree on the revision of the car insurance rate. The rate is decided after categorizing each automobile brand and model. What worries us is that while trying to raise insurance rates, imported car owners and dealers are viewed as a ‘bad guy.’”
As for the Volkswagen scandal, Dimitris Psillakis, vice chairman of KAIDA and Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO, said, “It is unfortunate that this happened. But we should not take one incident as a reason to condemn a technology or to condemn a country or industry.”
He said the latest scandal should be a chance for the whole industry to think about regulations and tests that better reflect actual road conditions.
The imported vehicle lobby group, since it was established in 1995, has grown to have14 members.