Successful implimentation of the new automobile industry policy for korean model cars.

한국형 고유모델 승용차 정책의 기적 -천부신조의 우리나라 자동차 산업-

The successful development of the automobile industry in Korea is the firstfruit of the epochmaking automobile policy in 1973: Top-Down mass production of Korean model cars. In Top-Down system, indigenous model, which is the most important and difficult part of the automobile industry, is devised first, followed by the mass production of the major parts, such as bodies, engines, etc. This system is in contrast to the prevailing Bottom-up system in the third-world, which assembles automobiles by gradually adding up simple domestic parts. The Government, faced with a vicious circle of depen- dence on assembly of foreign cars, high prices, small demand and low production, decided it was time to move to the mass production of the indigenous models. It was hoped that the efficiencies of low cost Korean models would be epochally improved by overcoming the sway of foreign models and by strengthening the production capabilities of the main parts. In contrast to these develop- ment planning, assembled vehicles numbered only 26,300 units in 1973. In the year of 1995, the total number of automobile production have already passed 2,534,000. As steady growth in worldwide demand is forecast, Korea will able to play a major role as an important automobile maker of the next century.