Average price of Korean cars overseas rises 13%

The average price of Korean automobiles shipped overseas surged to a record high on increasing sales of larger and luxury cars, the government said yesterday.

The average price of Korean cars exported in the first half of the year came to $13,499 per unit, up 13.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The figure also represents a 9.2 percent increase from $12,367 in the second half of last year.

“The rise of the average price means the country’s automobile industry is not only making quantitative growth but also qualitative growth,” the ministry said in a press release. “It also means people are buying Korean cars for their quality, not their low price.”

The average price of Korean exports, however, was still at about 60 percent of the average price of Japanese automobiles sold outside of Japan.

“There still exists a gap between the country’s products and German and Japanese cars, but Korean cars are continuously improving their images as high-quality cars,” the ministry said.

The country’s automobile exports also continued to grow in August.

Korea’s five automakers, led by Hyundai Motor Co., exported 219,396 cars last month, up 17.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the ministry.