Airstrikes on Chinese cars… 3rd place in the country of origin of imported cars

As global automakers expand the volume of vehicles produced in China they export to Korea, the volume of Chinese automobile imports is increasing significantly. Previously, China mainly exported low-cost commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses to Korea, but recently, it has been shown to be targeting the domestic automobile market by putting eco-friendly passenger vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles at the forefront.

According to the Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association and the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Agency on the 28th, domestic imports of Chinese cars from January to October this year recorded 32,668 units, ranking third after German and American cars. This is a 60% increase from the same period last year.

From January to October this year, 101,312 German cars and 46,612 American cars were imported. Japanese cars, the fourth most imported vehicle after Chinese cars, were counted at 20,848 units.

The number of Chinese-made cars has been increasing every year since ranking 5th with 10,720 units (annual basis) in 2019. In 2021, it ranked 4th in terms of imported units with 18,116 units, and rose to 3rd place last year with 24,663 units imported. The number of automobiles imported from China has already surpassed last year’s annual record in September of this year.

If the growth of Chinese-made cars continues at this trend, Chinese-made cars are expected to replace American-made cars as the second largest source of domestic imported cars within the next five years. As of January to October last year, the number of automobiles imported from the United States was 3.6 times that of Chinese cars, but during the same period this year, this gap narrowed to 1.4 times. Even taking into account the fact that global automakers are setting up electric vehicle production plants in the U.S. and exporting some of the volume manufactured there to Korea in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the increase in Chinese imported vehicles is unstoppable.

Until now, many of the Chinese cars imported into Korea were commercial vehicles such as trucks and electric buses. As recently as 2019, one out of three Chinese cars entering the country were commercial vehicles, but this year, that proportion has decreased to one out of four. During the same period, the share of eco-friendly passenger vehicle imports increased rapidly from about 30% to 70%. This change occurred not because the volume of exports to Korea by local Chinese automakers increased, but because global automakers such as Tesla, Volvo Automobiles, and Polestar expanded the volume of vehicles produced in China exported to Korea.

Tesla has been importing the Model Y, produced at the Gigafactory in Shanghai, China, to Korea since last September. The selling price of the Chinese-made Model Y starts at 56.99 million won, which is about 20 million won cheaper than the Model Y produced and imported from the United States. Last September alone, the Chinese-made Model Y sold 4,206 units in Korea, ranking first in sales of all imported car models.

[문광민 기자]