Used Cars Also Caught in E·S·G Trend... Online and Eco-Friendly Car Purchases Increase in First Half of the Year

Increase in Online Purchase Share Among Senior Generation

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The ESG trend is also sweeping through the used car market. This is due to the increase in online purchases (E-commerce), online usage by seniors (Senior), and sales of eco-friendly cars (Green).

K Car, a domestic direct-operated used car company, announced on the 30th that an analysis of used car data traded in the first half of this year showed that the proportion of non-face-to-face online purchases through the 'Buy My Car Home Service' was 43.1%. This is an increase of 8.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.

According to K Car, the share of home service sales began to increase after the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Monthly, the proportion of home service sales was 39.2% in January and steadily rose to 45.7% this month.

K Car stated, "The advantage of being able to check vehicle information through a smartphone application or website, and quickly complete the entire process online including easy payment and delivery, has satisfied customer needs."

Online purchases by seniors aged 50 to 70 are also increasing. According to K Car's analysis, the largest age group purchasing used cars through the home service was the MZ generation (born in the 1980s to 2000s) at 52.6%, although this is a slight decrease compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the purchase proportion of seniors aged 50 to 70 was 20.6%, up 3.9 percentage points from the previous year. This is interpreted as a result of difficulties in offline shopping due to COVID-19 and the active reverse mentoring (learning culture from younger generations) within families.

Purchases of eco-friendly used cars have also increased significantly. The sales volume of eco-friendly cars through K Car's home service increased by about 140% compared to the previous year, which is attributed to the increased supply of used cars such as Hyundai Kona EV, Korea GM Bolt EV, and Kia Niro. K Car explained, "As the global economy, which was stagnant due to COVID-19, recovers and oil prices rise rapidly, the preference for hybrid cars with high fuel efficiency has increased, which seems to have driven the increase in sales in the first half of the year."

Meanwhile, among domestic cars, the Hyundai Grandeur IG was selected as the best-selling car in K Car's home service for the first half of this year. Chevrolet Spark, Hyundai Avante AD, Chevrolet The Next Spark, and Hyundai Grandeur HG ranked 2nd to 5th respectively. Among imported cars, the BMW 3 Series was the best-selling car, followed by the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and BMW 1 Series.

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