Importing Domestic

The Chevrolet Impala.
The Chevrolet Impala.

 

Concerns are rising that some automakers in Korea might become mere sales and marketing bases of their parent companies, as the domestic sales of domestic brands of cars are being imported. Some examples of domestic import brands are Renault Samsung Motors’ QM3 and GM Korea’s Impala, are showing a rapid increase.

According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the sales volume of such cars stood at only 1,661 in 2009, 0.1 percent of the total car sales volume in the domestic market.

The number plummeted to 79 in 2012, but soared to 1,194 in 2013 and to 18,249 last year, when Renault Samsung Motors began to sell the QM3 manufactured in Spain. During the first eight months of this year, the volume increased by no less than 62 percent from a year ago to 14,943. It is estimated to amount to 25,000 or so, given the popularity of the Impala recently brought into the domestic market.

The ratio of such vehicles in the Korean car market rose from 1.2 percent to 1.5 percent between 2014 and this year, too. The QM3 is currently accounting for 30 percent of the total domestic sales of Renault Samsung Motors.

Under the circumstances, more cars are expected to be put on the domestic market this way, as they can have a competitive edge in terms of price based on the sharing of existing sales and maintenance networks. However, it is said that the automakers are unlikely to manufacture those vehicles in Korea instead of importing them, even when the sales volume gets on track.

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