Korea - 2.4 million Autogas Cars

[LPGhostWriter]

The Republic of Korea was one of the first countries to promote the widespread use of autogas and now has the largest autogas market in the world. Demand surged in the 1990s in response to strong government support for the fuel’s use in taxis, including a large fuel-tax advantage.

Environmental restrictions on diesel vehicles helped encourage autogas use by high-mileage vehicles. There has been a dramatic increase in the use of autogas in vehicles since 1997.

Today, there are 2.4 million cars running on autogas in Korea. According to 2009 figures this is 14% of the total number of cars on the road.

- 11% of all taxis run on autogas (250)
- 66% of all Sedan run on autogas (1,575)
- 14% of all vans and SUVs run on autogas (340)
- 9% of LD trucks run on autogas (225)
There are more than 1,800 LP Gas stations and autogas costs US$ 0.77 per litre (versus Gasoline at $1.46 and Diesel at $1.30).

The fast increase of LP Gas fuelling stations helped to increase the growth of autogas in Korea. Clearly, accessibility is very important for autogas users and the expansion of the fuel stations was sponsored and supported financially by the Korean LP Gas industry.