Sales Of Bentley, Rolls-Royce Plunge In Korea After Company-owned Cars Forced To Wear Green Plates

Luxury car sales plunge in Korea following the introduction of green plates for company vehicles valued at over $57,800.

The lime green license plates was introduced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the beginning of 2024.

It was aimed to block business owners in Korea from purchasing supercars as company vehicles to dodge taxes.

The sales of Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini cars plunged in Korea in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 following the introduction of mandatory green license plates for company cars valued at over 80 million won ($57,800).

The distinctive lime green license plates was introduced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the beginning of 2024 to block business owners from purchasing supercars as company vehicles to dodge taxes.

According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), the number of newly registered imported luxury vehicles reached 3,868 in March, down 31.4 percent from the previous year.

Data from KAIDA showed a steep sales fall for pricey carmakers in Korea with registered Bentley plunging by 77.4 percent in Q1 2024 due to the introduction of green plate rule on company-owned luxury vehicles.

Rolls-Royce, Porsche and Lamborghini also reported sales declines of 35.2 percent, 22.9 percent and 22.2 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2024 for the same reason.

“Generally speaking, few customers or business owners prefer to purchase vehicles with green plates due to the prevalent negative image on rental and lease cars,” an official from a luxury carmaker told Korea Times.

“This will weaken the overall sentiment from business owners who plan to purchase luxury cars as fleet vehicles.”

A total of 25,263 imported cars were registered in March, up 6 percent from the previous year, but the portion of company cars fell below 30 percent (28.4 percent) for the very first time after accounting for almost 40 percent last year.

“As the economy is showing no immediate signs of a rebound, demand for pricey vehicles declines,” another official from a different carmaker told Korea Times.

“To make matters worse, the regulation also comes as a bane for such supercar makers to rev up their diminishing sales performance here,” another official from an imported carmaker said.

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