Infinity to Leave Korean Market This Year
One year has passed since a boycott of Japanese goods and services began among Korean consumers. Japanese car brands yielded mixed results. Nissan and Infiniti were forced to withdraw from the Korean market, while Toyota and Lexus enjoyed sales growth on new model launch effects and sales promotions.
Sales of five Japanese car brands in Korea dropped 30.7 percent to 2,735 units in June from 3,946 units a year earlier, said the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on July 17. However, the figure suggests a recovery as sales plummeted to the 1,000 units range following the start of the boycott.
The boycott of Japanese products began in earnest in July 2019. Sales of the five Japanese car brands fell to 2,674 units in July, 1,398 units in August and 1,003 units in September. Before the boycott, average monthly sales of Japanese cars were about 4,000 units in Korea.
But things began to change in October. Japanese car brands began exceptional discount promotions They cut their car prices by more than 10 million to attract customers. In December 2019, sales of five Japanese brands rose to 3,670 units.
Nissan, however, announced its withdrawal from the Korean market as it was hit hard by the boycott. Nissan faced a series of controversies over product quality and the absence of new models worsened its business difficulties. Infiniti also failed to show any significant results with only about 50 units sold every month following one unit in sales in January. Infiniti has begun steps to leave the Korean market.