식민지 조선의 자동차 보급 추이와 시장 변화

Abstract

This article analyzes the trend of automobile penetration and market structure during the Japanese rule. The number of automobiles soared from 2 in 1911 to 12,559 in 1942. One segment that drove this was commercial vehicles. By ethnicity, the Japanese were in the lead. Koreans accounted for between 30 and 40 percent of commercial vehicles, but were underrepresented in private cars. In addition to the general conditions, two factors contributed to the surge in cars. One was the improvement of road conditions and the other was the improvement of productivity. Through extensive maintenance, conventional roads were widened to accommodate automobiles. With the construction of Ford and GM assembly plants in Japan in the mid-1920s, automobile prices dropped to less than 50% of what they had been before. On the other hand, the automobile industry in Korea was still in its infancy. It wasn't until 1941 that an assembly plant was built, but even then, it didn't operate properly due to shortages. As a result, the streets of colonized Korea were dominated by imported cars. Ford and GM dominated the market, but by the late 1930s, the game had changed. As a result of wartime control policies aimed at localizing automobiles and driving foreign companies out of the country, Ford and GM's cars disappeared from the market. Japanese cars filled the void. By the time of liberation, the share of Japanese cars had soared up to 50%.