South Korean Market Developing An Appetite For German Cars

Not long ago, South Korea was an impregnable nationalist fortress when it came to foreign imports – but this year the country is getting close to spending more on imports than the figures brought in by exports.

Foreign imports outpacing the local carmakers’ exports would be a first in 24 years and it’s mostly due to German brands making inroads into a market that swiftly changed its taste from extreme patriotism. Not long ago, cars that didn’t belong to local brands could be the subject of targeted vandalism, but today – after a 2011 free trade agreement that saw tariffs eliminated for cars imported from Europe – South Koreans are increasingly attracted to the eponymous German premium experience.