K Car Steers Smoothly in Q2, Achieving Double-Digit Growth in Sales and Operating Profit

Operating Profit 18.1 Billion KRW... Up 17% YoY
Boosting Productivity and Profitability with AI Demand Forecasting

K Car, the largest directly operated used car platform in Korea, recorded double-digit growth in both sales and operating profit in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. This is attributed to increased productivity and profitability through AI-based demand forecasting.

On the 1st, K Car announced preliminary results for the second quarter of this year, with sales of 589 billion KRW and operating profit of 18.1 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 16.5% and 17.0%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

The average retail selling price of used cars in the second quarter reached a record high of 17.22 million KRW, and the number of units sold grew by 6.2% year-on-year to 39,017 units. Both the selling price and volume increased. This growth is explained as the effect of applying an AI-based demand forecasting system and expanding sales and non-face-to-face purchasing channels.

This growth trend is considered to have outperformed the market. While the used car market, which had been in decline for over two years, shifted to growth this year with a 0.5% increase in the first half compared to the same period last year, K Car grew by 7%, achieving a record high effective market share of 12.3% for the half-year period.

The number of retail sales also increased, recording 29,525 units, up 4.7% year-on-year. Among these, online sales increased by 2.5% to 16,640 units, and offline sales rose by 7.7% to 12,885 units. The sales proportion of hybrid and electric vehicles accounted for 6.4%, which is 1 percentage point higher than the market average.

Auction sales continued to grow following the previous quarter. The number of direct auction sales at K Car’s Osan and Sejong auction sites increased by 10.9% year-on-year to 9,492 units (excluding consignment sales). The average winning bid rate at K Car auctions was around 80%, which is more than 20 percentage points higher than other auction sites (according to the National Automobile Auction Association auction statistics).

Jung In-guk, CEO of K Car, stated, "We will focus on creating new business value by utilizing the big data and AI technology accumulated over the past 24 years. Additionally, we will continue to expand B2B services for corporate operators newly entering the used car market."

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