Car Sales Outlook
Domestic automobile sales are expected to be the highest in history next year with sales of 1.655 million units, two percent higher than the sales of this year. The push of imported vehicles, which have been quickly encroaching on the domestic market, will become stronger by selling 225,000 units next year.
The Korea Automotive Research Institute released a report on the 2015 Outlook on Automobile Market on Nov. 23, including the information.
According to the report, next year's domestic market sales will increase by 2 percent, amounting to 1.655 million units. This figure is the largest in history, outnumbering the sales of 1.646 million units in 1996.
Expectations on the expansion of the domestic market are due to the increasing demands of scrapping cars owing to the increase of superannuated cars as the total registration of domestic vehicles surpasses 20 million, a series of releases of new models of small SUVs and middle-sized sedans, and continued favorable sales of imported cars. However, some uncertain factors, including the possibility of raising the benchmark interest and limited consumer confidence owing to the increase of household debt, are also pointed out in the report.
By vehicle type, the sales of small cars are increasing with the launch of new cars and various supporting policies, whereas the sales of mid-size sedans will decrease as demands of sedans move to SUVs and large size cars.
Imported cars are quickly making inroads into the domestic market, and will continue to expand their shares by strengthened competitive prices due to the strong won and the FTA. It is expected that 225,000 units of imports will be sold next year, which is 14.8 percent higher than this year. In particular, the report predicted that the sales of Japanese automobiles will increase due to the weak yen, and there will be an increase in hybrid cars due to the government’s support policies for green cars.