April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Diesel-powered vehicles are starting to feel the negative impact of Volkswagen's emissions scandal and recent fires that have affected BMW models, industry watchers said on Aug. 12.

Corporate data showed that while diesels, made mostly by German carmakers, accounted for 68.8 percent of all imports in 2015, up from 22.4 percent in 2009, that figure had come down to 46.3 percent as of July of this year, compared with 44.9 percent for cars that run on gasoline.

The 1.4 percentage point gap could be overturned, especially with more BMW luxury cars catching fire here and public opinion, typically sensitive towards safety issues, turning sour, an industry source said.

"In particular, unlike VW's 2015 dieselgate that had broader environmental implications that did not really impact ordinary people, the latest fires are safety related and can cause local consumers to switch to gasoline or Japanese brands that have extensively built their eco-friendly vehicle lineup with numerous hybrid and pure-electric models," he said.

In 2018, 36 BMW cars caught fire with eight occurring so far in August alone.

The move away from diesel in Korea is not a new phenomenon, since Europe, which was dominated by diesel cars, has steadily moved away from the fuel source.

Data by the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association showed the proportion of diesel cars dropping to 45.7 percent of all cars sold on the continent, down from 56.1 percent in 2011. The numbers showed that in the first quarter of 2018, gasoline cars made up 55.5 percent of the market with diesel trailing at 37.9 percent.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)