Korean media: Chinese cars easily surpass Korean cars, rising to second in Southeast Asia!

On October 26, the Korean media "Chosun Ilbo" published an article stating that in the ASEAN six countries'整车 market, where Japan had a dominant position, South Korea not only failed to catch up with Japan, but was also overtaken by China.

According to statistics from major Southeast Asian countries and analysis from consulting companies such as PwC, Hyundai and Kia, which entered the Southeast Asian market earlier, are still stuck in place, while Chinese companies have rapidly expanded their market share by offering mid-to-low priced electric vehicles.

In the first half of this year, in the six ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore, China (9%) rose to second place in the整车 market, while South Korea (4%) dropped to third place.

As of the first half of 2023, South Korea's market share was 5%, slightly leading China, both were 4% last year.

Many people are worried that the South Korean automotive industry is losing competitiveness in the ASEAN market, which has 600 million people. Although Toyota and Honda performed strongly, the market share of Japanese automakers, the dominant players in the Southeast Asian automotive market, fell to 59%, down 7 percentage points from last year. Two years ago, the market share of Japanese automobiles was as high as 70%, and now, the weakening of its market dominance is attributed to the rapid growth of Chinese companies such as BYD and Vietnam's leading electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast.

In the first half of this year, the total car sales in the ASEAN region reached 1.57 million units, of which 278,000 were electric vehicles (17.7%). Electric vehicle sales in the six ASEAN countries increased by 63% within just one year. Professor Kim Bok-su from the Department of Future Automotive Engineering at Daemok University emphasized: "South Korean automakers such as Hyundai and Kia must take bold measures, launching locally adapted products and strategies, in order to maintain competitiveness."

Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1847047437407307/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.