South Korea, which must abolish the 8-percent tariff on gasoline or diesel-fuel American cars under a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Unites States, will not open the hybrid car market immediately.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE), Korea will remove the 8-percent tariff within 10 years by lowering the rate by 0.8 percent per annum.
It seems that Korean FTA negotiators struggled to receive concessions from the U.S. on the eco-friendly car opening amid the situation in which Hyundai Motor has fallen behind Japanese automakers in the research and development (R&D) of hybrid cars.
In contrast to Toyota and Honda, which went into commercialization of hybrid cars since the late 1990s, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have recently launched their first step.
Toyota and Honda hold around an 80 percent market share in the global hybrid vehicle market.
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