In late 2009, my then-boss in Ilsan bought a new Volkswagen SUV. I was surprised that she bought a foreign car. At the time, I interpreted it as luxury purchase. Due to tariffs on foreign cars, a Korean buying a foreign car was engaging in overt conspicuous-consumption, I thought.
It seems that my boss was on the cusp of a trend, back in 2009. According to the Korea Herald, foreign carmakers' "market share" in South Korea (which I assume to mean the percent of cars on the road) has increased as follows:
Share of Foreign Cars on the Road in South Korea
4.7% : Mid-2009
6.7% : Mid-2010 [+2.0% market-share]
7.4% : Mid-2011 [+0.7%]
10% : Mid-2012 [+2.6%]
11.7%: April 2013 [On track to be +2.0% for Mid-2013 over Mid-2012]
Soon, one-in-eight cars on the roads of South Korea will be of foreign origin. My former-boss was one of those responsible, as her purchase helped push the foreign-car-share past the 5%-threshold back in 2009.
South Korea's long-tightly-protected car market may finally be opening up, perhaps partly due to the Free Trade Agreements. Then again, these foreign cars seem to me to be all "high-end". (Americans don't think of VW as a "luxury brand", but in Korea it rather is. So is Ford; the few I see are "high-end".) There is a street in Gangnam that is lined with glamorous stores selling glamorous foreign cars, displayed in their windows [as is usual here]. If this is the "image"/"market" for foreign-cars, then growth will slow and stop.
The USA, by comparison, has a 60% foreign-car share. (60% of cars on U.S. roads are not made by U.S. companies).
It seems that my boss was on the cusp of a trend, back in 2009. According to the Korea Herald, foreign carmakers' "market share" in South Korea (which I assume to mean the percent of cars on the road) has increased as follows:
Share of Foreign Cars on the Road in South Korea
4.7% : Mid-2009
6.7% : Mid-2010 [+2.0% market-share]
7.4% : Mid-2011 [+0.7%]
10% : Mid-2012 [+2.6%]
11.7%: April 2013 [On track to be +2.0% for Mid-2013 over Mid-2012]
Soon, one-in-eight cars on the roads of South Korea will be of foreign origin. My former-boss was one of those responsible, as her purchase helped push the foreign-car-share past the 5%-threshold back in 2009.
South Korea's long-tightly-protected car market may finally be opening up, perhaps partly due to the Free Trade Agreements. Then again, these foreign cars seem to me to be all "high-end". (Americans don't think of VW as a "luxury brand", but in Korea it rather is. So is Ford; the few I see are "high-end".) There is a street in Gangnam that is lined with glamorous stores selling glamorous foreign cars, displayed in their windows [as is usual here]. If this is the "image"/"market" for foreign-cars, then growth will slow and stop.
The USA, by comparison, has a 60% foreign-car share. (60% of cars on U.S. roads are not made by U.S. companies).
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