Korea Enters the “1 Mil. Import Car” Era

SEOUL, KOREA - The number of import cars registered in Korea reached 977,063 units as of the end of June 2014, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.Considering that Korea imports about 20,000 cars a month, it is likely to enter the era of “1 million import cars” sometime by mid-August. 

The sales of import cars in Korea have been rising at a robust pace in recent days.Since the country opened the door to import cars in 1987, it has passed 23 years for the country to reach the 500,000 milestone in import car registration numbers. However, it took only three years and eight months to reach another 500,000 milestone.

Import cars played a positive role for the development of the Korean automobile industry, providing more options to consumers and giving stimulus to domestic carmakers, although there is criticism about the lack of after-sales service infrastructure.