The Japanese brand's sales have plummeted in recent years in the car market, it will focus more on motorcycles
Honda announced on Thursday (23) that it will end operations of its car division in South Korea by the end of 2026. The brand will continue to sell motorcycles in the Asian country.
It will continue with the assistance network for customers who already own the cars. Honda started selling in South Korea in 2004 and today sells the Accord, CR-V, Odyssey and Pilot models.
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The best year of sales of the Japanese company in South Korea was 2008, with 12 thousand units. In recent years the volume has plummeted to less than 2 thousand cars.
South Korea’s automobile market is dominated by Hyundai and Kia. Among the imports, the segment where Honda operates, the leaders are luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Tesla. The Chinese BYD has grown a lot in recent months and closed March in 9th place, with two cars among the 10 best sellers.
This pressure from BYD was one of the factors that harmed Honda in the country. At the same time, the Japanese brand is rethinking its electrification strategy, returning to focus more on hybrid cars.
The Chinese advance has also hurt Honda in other Asian markets, such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
