Subaru to sell cars in South Korea

The South Korean car market has always imposed tough legislation and import taxes on imported cars, but the market is currently recovering and easing up, and Subaru is looking to take advantage by entering the South Korean market.

The company said that it will make its entry in April this year, through its South Korean distributor, Subaru Korea Co. Ltd, and Subaru’s entrance will make it only the second Japanese manufacturer to officially sell cars in South Korea, after Toyota.

Subaru will initially import the Legacy, Outback and Forester models into South Korea, but there are no plans as yet to import the popular Impreza models, like the performance WRX and STI variants. Subaru targets a sales figure of just 600 cars in its first year in South Korea, but will seek to increase that figure to 3000 by 2015. Subaru’s first dealer networks will open in Seoul and Pusan, eventually branching out to other metropolitan South Korean cities.