Still High Popularity
The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association announced on February 23 that a total of approximately 1.83 million vehicles were newly registered in Korea last year and 962,127 out of them were diesel vehicles. The ratio of diesel vehicles was 52.5% while that of gasoline vehicles fell from about 60% to 37% between 2010 and last year.
These days, the diesel vehicle sales volume is on a rapid increase in Korea. Last year, the volume was slightly less than one million cars. Under the circumstances, each of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors recently increased the number of its diesel vehicle models to about 10. The Kia K7 that made its debut this year comes in diesel as well unlike its predecessors. In addition, a large number of cars coming with Euro 6 diesel engines are scheduled to be put on the market this year.
Likewise, the amount of diesel vehicle imports reached a new high in the fourth quarter of last year. According to the Korea Customs Service, Korea recorded US$803.59 million and US$806.72 million in midsize and large diesel vehicle imports in that quarter, respectively.
This is because of their high fuel economy and improved performance. In Korea, diesel is about 15% cheaper than gasoline. In addition, diesel cars’ average fuel efficiency overwhelms that of gasoline cars and the former has been successfully dealing with noise and vibration, two of the problems unique to them.