South Korea’s car imports from the European Union ( EU ) have been found to be among the highest in the world. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association ( ACEA

) on the 9th, Korea imported a total of 183,175 cars from the EU last year, ranking seventh in the world. In the top 10 , there are many European countries that are not part of the EU, such as the UK (1st), Ukraine (3rd), Switzerland (5th), Serbia (9th) and Norway (10th). Excluding European countries, Korea ranks 4th after the US, China and Turkey. Japan ranked eighth with 170,270 units. In 2017 alone, the EU exported 80,000 cars to Japan more than Korea. South Korea gradually narrowed the gap and surpassed Japan for the first time in 2020. The following year, Japan seemed to find its place ahead of Korea, but the ranking changed again in a year. Korea ranked 4th, the highest in terms of import value (sales value). It means that they mainly imported expensive luxury cars. Turkey imported메이저사이트 322,290 EU passenger cars last year, for a total value of €6.088 billion. In the case of Korea, it is 8.441 billion euros, and the amount of imports is half (56%) of that of Turkey, but the amount is 1.4 times higher. If Turkey bought more European cars, mainly mass-produced cars, it seems that Korea mainly imported premium cars.

Like Korea, Japan, where the imported car market is centered on luxury cars, could not overcome Korea’s love for European luxury cars. Passenger cars exported by the EU to Japan last year totaled 6.085 billion euros, remaining at the same level as Turkey. Even in 2021, when Japan imported more than Korea, Korea was ahead in terms of amount. The only countries with a larger import volume than Korea are China and the United States, which rank first and second in the global automobile market, and the United Kingdom, which was a member of the EU .

In fact, in the domestic imported car market, EU- made vehicles accounted for 78.8% of the total as of January to July this year. Including British brands, it is 84.9%. Germany has the largest market share at 70.9%, with luxury car brands Mercedes-Benz and BMW accounting for 26.8% and 29%, respectively, of the Korean market. Mercedes-Benz and BMW have higher sales than domestic automakers such as Renault Korea Motors, KG Mobility, and GM Korea. In the case of Renault Korea (13,975 units) and GM’s Korean plant (23,127 units), which are particularly sluggish in the domestic market, the two together do not reach BMW sales (44,037 units).

Accordingly, BMW and Mercedes-Benz import new cars that were launched globally into Korea immediately. to be released in OctoberIn the case of the new BMW 5 Series, it will be released first in Korea rather than in Europe and the United States. Most other new models also have a release time difference of less than six months from global. Mercedes-Benz also brought The New EQS SUV , which was launched globally in August last year , to Korea in six months, and the time difference is about a year.