EVs, hybrids in growing demand in used car market

Eco-friendly cars such as electric vehicles and hybrids have increased their share in South Korea's used car market, together accounting for 36% of secondhand vehicles sold in the first eight months of this year, data showed.

During the January-August period, hybrid cars and EVs sold 37,205 units and 9,897 units, respectively, of the 1.3 million vehicles traded in the domestic secondhand automobile market, according to carisyou, an automotive industry tracker, on Oct. 2.

The data is based on the cars registered at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT).

Skyrocketing oil prices and growing awareness of climate change have prompted drivers to shift from cars running on fossil fuels.

The prospect of dwindling production of combustion engine vehicles also fueled their interest in the eco-friendly models, as drivers expect to see component shortages and poor maintenance services on traditional vehicles.

The sales volume of hybrids and EVs was up 13.2% and 53.3% from the previous year, respectively. The sales growth is notable given that a majority of both types of cars were recently rolled out, compared with gasoline cars.

A hybrid car has at least one electric motor combined with a gasoline engine.

Still, gasoline and diesel cars made up a big chunk of sales in the used car market, selling 736,446 units and 378,656 units, respectively, in the January-August period.

But their sales volume decreased 5.2% and 14.1% on-year, respectively.

Sedans were the top-selling cars, taking up half of the used vehicles sold in the country during the period.

Sports utility vehicles made up 23.1%, whereas they remained the best-selling type in the country's new automobile market given the booming outdoor leisure market.

By model, Kia Corp.’s compact car Morning TA was the most popular, selling 29,802 units, trailed by Hyundai Motor’s Grandeur HG sedan, which sold 29,324 units.

South Korea's secondhand vehicle market size was 38 trillion won ($26 billion) in 2021, compared with the new automobile market’s 59 trillion won, according to government data.

Write to Han-Shin Park at phs@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.