Korea’s used car exports reach record high

Korea reached a new record in the number of used car exports. Early in December 2012, the Korea Used Car Export Association said that a total of 322,623 second-hand cars were cleared by customs from January to October this year, a 38% growth year-on-year, exceeding 2011’s total of 293,200.
More than 74% of the exported used vehicles were sedans; a third of which were mid-sized gasoline vehicles with 1.5 to 2.0 liter engines–the rest were compact cars with an engine capacity of 1.0 to 1.5 liters. Trucks accounted for 19%, vans 6%, and tractors 0.3%. The biggest buyer of Korean second hand cars in 2011 was Jordan, which bought 92,450 units.
Korea’s used car export market was ranked fourth in the world in 2011, coming in behind the EU, Japan and the U.S. In 2011, Korea’s used car export sector was worth about KRW1.8 trillion (US$1.7 million), an indication that the emerging economies in the Middle East and Southeast Asia acknowledge the durability of Korean used cars, which are also relatively low-priced. (December 13, 2012)