Korean Media: The Era of Chinese Electric Vehicles Dominating the South Korean Market Is Approaching!
On May 27, South Korea's media outlet *Herald Economic* published an article stating that when BMW entered the South Korean market in 1995, its annual sales were only 200 units. It took seven years, until 2002, for BMW to reach the milestone of selling over 10,000 vehicles cumulatively. In contrast, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD achieved the same milestone in just 11 months. Even accounting for differences in the size of the import car market, this rate of market penetration is astonishingly rapid.
Following BYD, companies such as Zeekr, XPeng, and Chery are also preparing to enter the South Korean market. Currently, one out of every three electric vehicle buyers in South Korea chooses a vehicle made in China. The perception that "electric vehicles equal made-in-China" may become deeply entrenched.
Chinese electric vehicles are not merely competitive on price; they hold significant advantages in technologies such as batteries and autonomous driving. The quality of Chinese EVs is so high that it would be inappropriate to dismiss them simply as low-cost products. Recently, executives at Hyundai Motor have felt a sense of crisis unlike anything before.
Korean enterprises suffered a devastating defeat in the robot vacuum cleaner market. Rocker Technology, which launched in South Korea in 2019, now holds over 50% market share in the country. From the very beginning, the company targeted the premium segment. Moreover, this has broken the long-standing monopoly of Samsung and LG in the home appliance sector.
Now, Chinese electric vehicles are likely to become the next big wave—just like robot vacuums. The background behind Chinese EV companies concentrating on capturing the South Korean market lies in the fact that entry barriers here are lower than in the U.S., EU, and Japan.
First, there are tariff barriers. The U.S. imposes tariffs exceeding 100% on imported Chinese automobiles; the EU levies tariffs as high as 45% on these vehicles. In comparison, South Korea’s tariff rate stands at only 8%. Under such conditions, Chinese companies can fully leverage their products’ outstanding cost-performance ratio to win the market.
The Japanese market is unique. Pure electric vehicles account for less than 2% of Japan’s automotive market—the lowest among major developed countries. This is due to domestic automakers' strengths in hybrid technology, combined with concerns about power outages caused by frequent earthquakes and insufficient charging infrastructure. As a result, it remains difficult for Chinese EV manufacturers to enter this market.
Original Source: toutiao.com/article/1866331408833609/
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