Now that Korea has begun to come out with interesting car brands and models, is Japan at risk of being booted out of first place in the Asian car manufacturing industry? One way of looking at this “competition” would be to compare a Japan used car with a Korean used car. Most drivers already know that a Japan used car if maintained well, can be depended on 10 years after it was launched. Can the same be said of a used Korean car?
In a forum participated by Asians from different countries, there was mixed reactions to this question. However, majority still believed that the brand new Japanese cars have the edge, and when it came down to used cars, Japanese were ahead by a clear margin.
The people who participated in the forum even placed Korean cars at par with Chinese cars, and the only reason consumers are buying Korean and Chinese cars is because they’re cheaper. Also Korean brands like Hyundai are offering tempting extended warranties which have become the clincher to close the deal. However, as many find out the value for money aspect is a bit skewed and becomes more noticeable over time.
In addition, there was an emphasis on what Japanese brand to trust over Korean cars. The majority agree that Toyota and Honda are the winners in the trust ratio. They may have had problems with some models to the point of recalls but overall, their performance has been exemplary.
On the side of those supporting Korean cars, they do believe that Hyundai has surpassed Mazda, Nissan and Subaru but has yet to equal the performance of big car giants like Toyota and Honda. The other Korean brand, Kia, on the other hand, lags way behind. One reason for the popularity of Hyundai is the fact that these other three Japanese brands are not entirely owned by Japanese anymore so the trust rating has declined.
One of the major issues Korean cars have to face is being challenged with their engineering and marketing. Many Asians do not like the idea of owning a car that is also for public use like to be sold as taxi fleets. It takes the prestige of owning your own car away.