Seen is BEXCO convention center where the Busan International Motor Show takes place, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

Busan City should adapt to changing auto industry

By Baek Byung-yeul

Since its launch in 2001, the Busan International Motor Show has grown into one of the representative motor shows here along with the Seoul Mobility Show by providing a rare opportunity to gain a glimpse at new cars belonging to global auto brands for people living in southeastern Korea.

The biennial event has been popular with more than 1 million visitors from 2003 to 2014, but since the 2016 event, its reputation has been gradually fading as the number of visitors has fallen to around 600,000.

After skipping its 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the motor show came back this year after a four-year hiatus. However, the event, which was organized by the Busan Metropolitan City Government, seems to be struggling to recreate the glory of the past this year because only six brands from two automotive groups attended. They are Hyundai Motor Group's Hyundai Motor, Kia and Genesis and BMW Group's BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce.

At a time when the global auto industry is experiencing big changes ― transitioning from traditional combustion engine-powered cars to electric vehicles (EV) ― Hyundai Motor Group utilized the Busan motor show as a great tool, through which it can promote its future vision, unveiling Hyundai Motor's latest EV, the Ioniq 6 and Kia's EV9 concept car.

BMW, one of the nation's most beloved imported car companies, introduced the New BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Mini Cooper's EV version and other vehicles.

However, Mercedes-Benz, which sold 5,845 cars in June, according to data by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, thereby making it the second-highest-bought foreign car brand in Korea, after BMW, (which sold 6,449 cars), was not present at the event.

Renault Korea also failed to participate this year, even though the carmaker operates a production base in the city.

Visitors try out SK Telecom's urban air mobility simulator during the Busan International Motor Show at BEXCO, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

The void left by some car makers was filled by information and communications technology (ICT) companies such as SK Telecom.

The telecommunications company, which is currently making effort to develop flying car services, received a hot reaction from visitors for allowing them to indirectly experience how its urban air mobility (UAM) services will work using robotics and virtual reality (VR) technology.

Passengers can ride a large robot-driven simulator and wear a VR device on their heads, in so doing experiencing the feeling of flying as if sitting in a UAM vehicle. To experience this seemingly enjoyable ride, visitors were willing to queue in the long line.

The carmakers that decided not to take part in this year's event have not given official reasons, but their absence might indicate that showcasing their cars at a motor show is no longer as helpful to their businesses.

An official from the car industry said, "The Busan Metropolitan City Government, the organizer of the motor show, should focus on making it more attractive so that car brands are willing to take part in it."

"It takes billions of won when joining the event. Taking a look at globally famous motor shows in the world, they are trying to focus more on the electric car industry in order to keep attracting global car brands," the official said.

As the official pointed out, the city needs to make efforts to turn the motor show into an eye-catching event to suit the changing trends in the automobile industry. No one is sure that Hyundai Motor and Kia will continue to participate in the event after two years only because they are Korean companies.