SEOUL, KOREA - The share of diesel cars has exceeded that of gasoline models in the Korean market last year, first in history.
According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, diesel cars accounted for the largest 43.5 percent in new car registration last year, followed by gasoline models with 42.5 percent, LP gaswith 11.4 percent, and hybrid/EV with 1.9 percent.
The number of the cars newly registered in Korea last year totaled 1,543,564 units, up 0.7 percent from a year ago.Of the total, diesel cars accounted for 672,035, or 43.5 percent of the total, up 13.5 percent year on year. This figure is higher than gasoline models’ share of 42.5 percent.
Gasoline models, which had consistently enjoyed the highest popularity in Korea, were sold 656,128 units last year, down 9.3 percent year on year.
Among the import cars that were newly registered in Korea last year, diesel models accounted for 61. 7 percent, while gasoline and hybrid models took upshares of 34 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.
