Ford vehicles are poised to become a more common sight on South Korean roads this year as the Dearborn-based automaker expects to boost exports to the Asian nation by 50 percent.
Thanks the U.S.’ recent free trade deal, Ford expects to export about 6,000 vehicles to South Korea this year. Although that figure is still just a fraction of the overall Korean market, it represents a vast improvement of the 7,450 combined exports of the Detroit Three to South Korea in 2010.
“We are launching a number of new vehicles in Korea this year,” Marci Williamson, a Ford spokeswoman, told The Detroit News. “We are very excited to grow our presence in the market.”
Ford models set to hit the South Korean market this year include the Fusion Hybrid, Explorer EcoBoost and a diesel-powered version of the Focus compact.
Per the terms of the trade pact, automakers selling fewer than 25,000 units in South Korea are only required to meet U.S. Standards rather than the specialized requirements of the South Korean government.
