By Choi Sung-jin
Korea's imported car market has sharply changed over the past year, since Volkswagen's diesel vehicle emissions fraud scandal erupted.
The market shares of German cars have noticeably dropped, and Japanese and British cars are filling the void, industry sources said Thursday.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, German vehicles accounted for 62.5 percent of imported cars in the first eight months of this year, down 6 percentage points from 68.5 percent a year ago.
In July and August, in particular, their market share hovered below the 60 percent threshold, falling to 57.6 percent and 54.8 percent, respectively.
The Audi and Volkswagen sales plunge, hit by "diesel-gate" and their fraudulent documentation in obtaining Korean government certification, adversely affected the overall performance of German cars, it said.
Audi and Volkswagen, which were the "big-four" imported car brands last year, along with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, saw their sales fall by 24.7 percent and 47.4 percent, respectively.
In August, when the government cancelled certifications and suspended sales, the two brands' sales stood at 476 and 76 cars, respectively, down 83 percent and 97.7 percent from a year earlier. The sales rankings of Audi and Volkswagen also plunged to 10th and 18th places.
Japanese and British automobiles are taking the place of German cars.
Japanese automakers sold 21,678 cars in Korea in the first eight months, recording 17.7 percent growth. Given overall car imports dropped 6.5 percent during the period, the Japanese vehicles' performance is noticeable, the association said. The Japanese cars' market share also expanded from 11.6 percent to 14.6 percent.
Toyota had 15.5 percent sales growth to 5,783 cars. Other Japanese carmakers recorded higher sales growth -- Honda (29.4 percent), Lexus (28.4 percent) and Infiniti (30 percent) -- although sales volumes here were smaller than Toyota's.
British carmakers sold 15,452 vehicles, recording a whopping 39.7 percent increase, with market share entering the double-digit range of 10.7 percent, compared with last year's 7 percent.
Land Rover brands saw sales rocket 74.7 percent to 7,215 cars.
The setback of diesel-fueled German brands has also changed the market share of vehicles by fuel.
In August, the market share of diesel cars plunged nearly 18 percentage points to 54.4 percent, from 72.3 percent in the same month last year. The accumulated market share of diesel cars in the first eight months also dropped from 69 percent to 62.4 percent.
On the other hand, the portion of gasoline cars rose from 27.4 percent to 31.3 percent and that of hybrid vehicles climbed from 3.4 percent to 6 percent.
Meanwhile, the accumulated number of newly registered foreign cars in the eight-month period slid to 148,411 units from 158,739 a year earlier, the association said.
Korea's imported car market has sharply changed over the past year, since Volkswagen's diesel vehicle emissions fraud scandal erupted.
The market shares of German cars have noticeably dropped, and Japanese and British cars are filling the void, industry sources said Thursday.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, German vehicles accounted for 62.5 percent of imported cars in the first eight months of this year, down 6 percentage points from 68.5 percent a year ago.
In July and August, in particular, their market share hovered below the 60 percent threshold, falling to 57.6 percent and 54.8 percent, respectively.
The Audi and Volkswagen sales plunge, hit by "diesel-gate" and their fraudulent documentation in obtaining Korean government certification, adversely affected the overall performance of German cars, it said.
Audi and Volkswagen, which were the "big-four" imported car brands last year, along with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, saw their sales fall by 24.7 percent and 47.4 percent, respectively.
In August, when the government cancelled certifications and suspended sales, the two brands' sales stood at 476 and 76 cars, respectively, down 83 percent and 97.7 percent from a year earlier. The sales rankings of Audi and Volkswagen also plunged to 10th and 18th places.
Japanese and British automobiles are taking the place of German cars.
Japanese automakers sold 21,678 cars in Korea in the first eight months, recording 17.7 percent growth. Given overall car imports dropped 6.5 percent during the period, the Japanese vehicles' performance is noticeable, the association said. The Japanese cars' market share also expanded from 11.6 percent to 14.6 percent.
Toyota had 15.5 percent sales growth to 5,783 cars. Other Japanese carmakers recorded higher sales growth -- Honda (29.4 percent), Lexus (28.4 percent) and Infiniti (30 percent) -- although sales volumes here were smaller than Toyota's.
British carmakers sold 15,452 vehicles, recording a whopping 39.7 percent increase, with market share entering the double-digit range of 10.7 percent, compared with last year's 7 percent.
Land Rover brands saw sales rocket 74.7 percent to 7,215 cars.
The setback of diesel-fueled German brands has also changed the market share of vehicles by fuel.
In August, the market share of diesel cars plunged nearly 18 percentage points to 54.4 percent, from 72.3 percent in the same month last year. The accumulated market share of diesel cars in the first eight months also dropped from 69 percent to 62.4 percent.
On the other hand, the portion of gasoline cars rose from 27.4 percent to 31.3 percent and that of hybrid vehicles climbed from 3.4 percent to 6 percent.
Meanwhile, the accumulated number of newly registered foreign cars in the eight-month period slid to 148,411 units from 158,739 a year earlier, the association said.
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