South Korea¡¯s exports of machine tools rose to a record high of $2.5 billion this year, according to the nation¡¯s
Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE). The value of total production stood at 6.6 trillion won ($6 billion) and exports of machine tools recorded trade account surplus worth $900 million. The nation¡¯s machine tool industry suffered losses in 2003 as the combined imports ($655 million) were greater than exports ($983 million). The trade balance of machine tools turned to surplus with exports of $1.1 billion in 2005 and achieved a surplus of $500 million in 2011 with exports of $2.3 billion.
Smaller diesel cars most popular in S. Korea¡¯s imported car market Imported cars with engine displacement of under 2,000 cubic centimeters (cc) accounted for the highest share of the total imported vehicle sales in South Korea. Of 120,195 newly-registered imported cars between January and November last year, 49.8 percent, or 59,833 units, had engine displacement below 2,000 cc, said the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA). The figure is 45.6 percent up on-year from 41,105 of the same period in 2012. Their market share also jumped 7.5 percentage points from 42.3 percent to 49.8
percent of all imported car sales. During the same period, imported cars of engine displacement between 2,000 and 3,000 cc also saw a 24.4 percent on-year sales increase to 39,632 units from 31,870 of 2011. Their market share rose modestly from 32.8 percent to 33 percent. In contrast, sales of imported cars with engine capacity between 3,000 and 4,000 cc declined 13.1 percent from 19,608 units to 17,042. Large vehicles of over 4,000 cc engine displacement posted meager sales of 3,688 units, down 19.4 percent on-year from 4,575 in 2011. Meanwhile, the domestic market share of diesel cars exceeded 50 percent for the first time. The number of newly-registered diesel cars soared 78.3 percent on-year to 61,134 units for the first 11 months in
2012 from 34,279 of the same period in 2011. Their market share surged from 35.3 percent to 50.9 percent. Sales of hybrid models went up 67.1 percent on-year from 3,377 units to 5,642 in 2012. But sales of gasoline vehicles slid 10.2 percent from 59,502 units to 53,419.
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