Car Registrations Surpass 24 Million... 1 Vehicle Owned per 2.1 People in the Nation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 24th that the number of registered vehicles surpassed 24 million, reaching 24.02 million as of the end of June. This means there is one car for every 2.16 people.

In the first half of last year, the total number of registered vehicles was 23.44 million, an increase of only 240,000 compared to the end of 2018. However, in the first half of this year, the number increased by 350,000, with the growth rate of registered vehicles compared to the same period last year reaching 1.4 times. The Ministry explained, "One factor is the effect of new car releases and the sunset effect of the 70% reduction in individual income tax, which led to domestic car sales reaching 930,000 units in the first half of this year, a 7.2% increase compared to the same period last year."

On the other hand, due to the contraction of overseas markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, exports decreased by 33.4% compared to the same period last year, recording 820,000 units.

The number of registered eco-friendly vehicles such as electric, hybrid, and hydrogen cars reached 690,000, accounting for 2.9% of the total, up 0.6 percentage points from 2.3% in the same period last year. With the recent government expansion of eco-friendly vehicle distribution and high public interest, the share of eco-friendly vehicles is steadily increasing.

In particular, hydrogen cars have seen their registrations increase from 893 units at the end of 2018 to 7,682 units in just a year and a half, an 8.6-fold increase, indicating that their distribution is gaining momentum. Compared to 2,353 units in the same period last year, this is a 226% increase. Electric vehicles also increased by 53% to 111,307 units, and hybrid vehicles rose by 25% to 570,506 units.

The market share of imported cars is also continuously increasing. At the end of last year, imported cars accounted for 10.2% of the total registered vehicles with 2.41 million units, and as of the end of June, the number of registered imported cars reached 2.54 million, accounting for 10.6% of the total.

Used car transactions also showed an upward trend. From 1.81 million units in the first half of last year, the number rose to 1.92 million units in the first half of this year, a 6.1% increase compared to the same period last year. However, exports decreased by 28.7% to 120,000 units due to the impact of COVID-19, down from 170,000 units in the first half of last year.

Baek Seung-geun, Director of the Transportation and Logistics Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The number of registered vehicles surpassed 24 million in the first half of this year, and this growth trend is expected to continue for the time being. In particular, the increase in eco-friendly vehicles such as hydrogen cars is expected to accelerate in line with the government's Green New Deal policies." He added, "We will strive to modernize automobile statistical management tailored to the vehicle lifecycle, including registration, maintenance, inspection, tuning, sales, and scrapping, in line with these trends."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.