This file photo shows electric vehicles at a charging station in Gangnam, southern Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The share of imported cars in South Korea’s electric vehicle (EV) market has far exceeded that in the market for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
The number of electric cars sold in the domestic market until last month reached a total of 450,731 units and of this total, domestically made cars accounted for 339,769 units, while imported cars made up 110,962 units, according to the Korea Automobile and Mobility Association.
In terms of market share, domestically-made cars held a significant majority at 75.4 percent, with imported cars representing 24.6 percent. This means that one out of every four EVs sold in the domestic market is imported.
In contrast, the percentage of imported cars in the domestic sales of ICE vehicles, which amounted to 23.76 million units, remained relatively low at 11.4 percent.
This indicates that the share of EV imports is twice as high as that of ICE cars.
Even in the case of hybrid cars, the proportion of imported cars (30.1 percent) has significantly surpassed that of ICE vehicles.
“Traditionally, diesel cars have enjoyed popularity in the imported car market. However, imported EVs are now gaining immense popularity due to the decarbonization trend,” an industry official said.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
