Registration figures of imported cars exceed the 3 million mark in South Korea

6. April 2023

By the end of 2022, a total of more than three million imported vehicles were registered in South Korea, according to government data. This shows that more and more consumers are opting for foreign car brands instead of domestic manufacturers. According to figures from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, registrations of imported vehicles reached about 3.17 million, or 12 per cent of all 25.46 million vehicles registered in the country. The ministry further pointed out that in 2011, there were less than 600,000 vehicles registered by foreign manufacturers, but this number increased to 1 million in 2014 and over 2 million in 2018. Three German car brands account for seven out of 10 imported vehicles: Volkswagen Group Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea. Equipment and machinery from the automotive production sector require KCs certification in many cases. KCs certification was introduced to ensure basic safety in the design and manufacture of hazardous machinery and protective equipment in hazardous workplaces in Korea.
 

 
According to a report by the business portal “The Korea Bizwire”, this trend is continuing. In December 2022, for example, 24 per cent more imported new cars were sold than in the same period last year, despite the chip shortage. The number of newly registered vehicles from abroad was 29,640 units in last year’s December compared to 23,904 units in 2021, the Korean Association of Automobile Importers and Distributors reported in a release. The top three selling car models were the Mercedes-Benz E250 and E350 4MATIC and the BMW 520. Cars from Germany accounted for about 76 per cent of all new cars imported to Asia’s fourth-largest economy, the association said. The market share of all imported passenger cars was 20.85 per cent in November 2022, up from 15.35 per cent a year earlier.

The KCs certification was introduced to ensure basic safety in the design and manufacture of hazardous machinery and protective equipment in hazardous workplaces in Korea. The aim is to protect the health and safety of workers by preventing accidents. We offer certification services for all product areas, including KC certification for consumer products and especially electronics, KC-EMV certification for electronic products and KCs certification for machinery, as well as KCs Ex for explosion-proof products.

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