The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) is forecasting that annual auto passenger car imports to South Korea will reach 51,000 units by 2005 – which compares with around 10,000 units per annum currently. The projected import level will account for a share of the car market of around 3% (assuming a market total of 1.71 million units).
According to the Institute, the increase will be driven by a shift in demand towards larger cars where imports figure more strongly than domestic makes.
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However, the body said that the increase will happen mostly through 2005 – up to 50 percent per year – but the growth rate will begin to slow to about 15 percent between 2005 and 2010 as domestic demand slows.
The report also predicted that German-made cars will do well in Korea, along with Japanese makes.
The reports adds: “By 2005, demand for cars bigger than 2,000cc in Korea will leap, and they will probably make up about 10 percent of total automobiles sold in Korea. Of these, a large percentage will probably be from Japan, given its close proximity to Korea and its competitive products.”
The opening up of the Korean domestic market to imports has been a controversial issue at times in the past, with foreign governments and carmakers accusing the Koreans of deliberately discouraging imports.
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