SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — For the first time since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, South Korea’s imported car market has experienced a two-year consecutive decline in sales.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on January 15, the number of newly registered imported passenger vehicles in 2024 totaled 263,288 units, marking a 2.9% decrease from 271,034 units in 2023.
This follows a 4.4% drop in 2023, highlighting a sustained downturn in the market.
When excluding Tesla—which was newly included in KAIDA statistics in 2024 with 29,750 units sold—the year-on-year decrease widens to 13.8%.
This two-year contraction in the imported car market is the first since the Asian financial crisis, when registrations fell sharply from 10,315 units in 1996 to 8,136 in 1997 and plummeted to 2,075 in 1998.
Although the imported car market faced declines in 2009 (-1.1%), 2016 (-7.6%), and 2019 (-6.1%), it consistently rebounded the following year. However, the back-to-back decline now suggests a deeper economic malaise, comparable to the severity of the 1997 crisis.
Industry experts attribute the slump to weakened consumer sentiment amid economic downturns, a trend not unique to South Korea but mirrored globally.
“It’s not just a local issue but part of a global slowdown, making a swift recovery unlikely,” noted an industry insider. Manufacturers are focusing on leveraging new model releases to stimulate sales.
Audi Korea, for instance, plans to launch 16 new models in 2025—its most extensive rollout since entering the South Korean market in 2004—as it seeks to recover from a sharp sales decline.
Once a top-three imported brand, Audi’s sales fell below 10,000 units for the first time in seven years, totaling 9,304 units in 2024 and dropping to seventh place in sales rankings.
Lee Ho-geun, a professor at Daedeok University, pointed to poor economic conditions and high exchange rates as key factors eroding the price competitiveness of imported cars.
He also highlighted that the introduction of green license plates for corporate vehicles priced over 80 million won has discouraged high-end vehicle purchases.
The ongoing slump in South Korea’s imported car market underscores persistent economic challenges and signals a potentially prolonged recovery period.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)