Camry Power
The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association announced on June 9 that Toyota sold 1,074 Camrys in Korea between January and May this year to record a 52.9 percent increase from a year earlier, while the sales volumes of the Nissan Altima 2.5 and the Honda Accord 2.4, both in their third year on the market, reached 889 (12.2 percent up) and 977 (21.8 percent up) during the same period, respectively.
It added that the three Japanese automakers’ share in the Korean market edged up year-on-year to 11.9 percent as of the end of April 2015.
For years, those models were less popular with consumers in Korea than German diesel sedans. Last year, German cars accounted for 69.4 percent of the imported car market, the highest since 2003. Meanwhile, Japanese cars’ market share stood at 2.03 percent, more than half compared to the 2007 share at 5.08 percent. The Toyota Camry recorded a decline in sales for three years in a row until 2014.
The revival of the popularity can be attributed to today’s low international oil prices, which made the fuel-efficient diesel sedans less attractive, and the Japanese automakers’ aggressive discount and promotions, like interest-free installments that started last month based on the weak yen.