Seen here is a used car market in Seoul on Oct. 13, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — In the South Korean used car market, the share of transactions taking place directly between sellers and buyers turned out to be higher than that of transactions through dealers, indicating that consumer distrust of used car dealers is significant, a local industry association said Monday.
The number of used cars traded in the domestic market totaled 2,515,000 units last year, up 5.3 percent year on year, and 1.32 times larger than the new car market (1,905,000 units), according to a report released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Of the used car transactions, the share of those taking place directly between sellers and buyers accounted for 54.7 percent or 1,376,000 units, while those conducted through used car dealers stood at 1,139,000 units or 45.3 percent of the total.
The report suggested that consumers avoided using used car dealers since the average price of used car transactions via dealers was higher than that of such transactions taking place directly between sellers and buyers.
The average price of used car transactions taking place directly between sellers and buyers stood at 6,046,000 won (US$5,167), far lower than the 11,269,000 won average for transactions taking place through dealers.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
