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A used car market in Seoul Hyundai Motor Co., Lotte Rental Co., and KB Financial Group, the No. 1 players in each of their sectors, are gearing up to fight in a new arena – the used car industry, which is expected to surpass the new automobile market in the coming years.The domestic secondhand vehicle market has been regarded as a hotbed of fraud and distrust due to deceptive sales practices. Those major companies plan to increase confidence with their brand names and credibility boosting measures, aiming at the market with high profitability after the government allowed big companies to enter the market in March.The local used car industry is expected to exceed the country’s new car market, helped by those major firms, analysts said. The secondhand vehicle market size was 38 trillion won last year ($29.3 billion), smaller than the new automobile market’s 59 trillion won, according to the government data.“Major companies’ capital and technology capabilities will accelerate consolidation in the used car market,” said Lee Jae-il, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. “That will create an attractive market with both profitability and growth potential.”The country’s used car market is just 1.5 times larger than the new vehicle market in terms of sales volume, much smaller than the UK’s 4.6 times, the US’ 2.7 times and Germany’s 2.6 times. .j-chart {font-family: 'Noto Sans KR', sans-serif; margin-top: 30px;} .j-chart-txt-div {/*margin-left: 5%;*/} .j-chart-h5 {font-size: 21px; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 20px; letter-spacing: -0.2px;} .j-chart-h6 {font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; margin:-5px 0 20px 0} .j-chart-p {display: flex; justify-content: space-between;} .j-chart-p p {font-size: 13px; font-weight: 300; margin-bottom: 0!important; margin-top: 0px; line-height: 15px;} .j-chart-sub-p {display: flex; margin-left: 6%;} .j-chart-sub-p p {font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; color: #374140; margin-bottom: 0!important; width: 50%; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 0px;} .d-pc-none {display: none!important} .d-pc-block {display: block!important} .txt-center {text-align: center; margin-top: 50px} .j-chart .year-div-cont {display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap;} .j-chart .year-div {width: 45%;} .j-chart .year {text-align: center; font-weight: 500; font-size: 15px; margin-top: -5px; margin-bottom: 20px;} .j-chart .d-flex {display: flex; justify-content: space-between;} .chart-flex-img {display: flex; justify-content: space-around; flex-wrap: wrap;} .chart-flex-img img {width: 100%;} @media screen and (max-width: 765px) { .j-chart-txt-div {margin-left: 0%;} .j-chart-p {display:block; } .j-chart-p p {margin-top: -6px;} .j-chart-sub-p {margin-left: 10%;} .j-chart-sub-p p {font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 10px;} .j-chart-h5 {font-size: 22px} .txt-center {text-align: left; margin-top: 20px} .d-pc-none {display: block!important} .d-pc-block {display: none!important} .j-chart .year-div {width: 100%;} .j-chart .year-div {width: 100%;} .j-chart-h6 {font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; margin:5px 0 20px 0} .chart-flex-img {display: block;} .chart-flex-img img {width: 80%; padding: 5px 0; text-align: center;} } South Korean consumers’ main expenditure items in 2021 Unit: trillion won
Source: KOSTAT
Graphics by Jerry Lee
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