The 2005 Seoul Motor Show, the largest motor show in Korea, will be held at Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Daehwa dong, Ilsan-gu, from April 30 to May 8 under the official certification of the OICA (Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles) The show will be a good opportunity for local carmakers to enhance their competitive position in the world market by assessing trends and new auto technologies. The 2005 Seoul Motor Show Organizing Committee Chairman Nam Choong-woo (concurrently Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association), says that with over 1 million visitors expected plus an exhibition space of 53,541m2 (16,225 pyung), this year's show is forecast to be the largest ever. Under the theme of 'Endless Surprise in Our Motoring Life', exhibitors will include 8 domestic carmakers such as Hyundai, Kia, GM Daewoo, Ssangyong, and Renault Samsung, 26 prominent foreign automakers such as GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Puegeot, and Volvo, and. a total of 141 parts and supplies companies. In a bid to make this year's event truly distinctive, the 2005 Seoul Motor Show is preparing a variety of events such as auto-related international conference and test-drives of 4WDs, Mr. Nam said. To learn more about current issues in the auto business, The Korea IT Times held the following interview with KAMA Executive Vice Chairman, Nam Choong-woo. Q: Telematics seems to be an important theme at this year's 2005 Seoul Motor Show. Could you tell our readers how telematics has been commercialized in the auto industry A: Telematics means the 'in-car multimedia services' that provide the driver with traffic guidance and emergency or rescue information while offering fellow passengers infotainment such as Internet access, movies and games. At the early stage, the greater part of telematics focused on safety and security as well as support information for the driver including emergency alerts and traffic information. Today's Telematics is developing as a way to create a mobile office in a car, which can offer seamless services such as car management and remote diagnosis in a moving car environment as the third 'Internet space'. Around the world, automakers are leading the provision of telematics services as TSPs (Telematics Service Providers). In Korea, their provision is divided between the carmakers and mobile communication providers. The auto-based telematics market is projected to be worth $3 billion in 2007, growing annually by 86.2%. Q: Foreign carmakers are taking part in the 2005 Seoul Motor Show in large numbers. What is the market outlook for imported cars A: Some 23,345 imported cars were sold last year, up 20.5% in comparison with 2003. Sales by BMW topped the list followed by Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz. The biggest sales increase was recorded by Toyota, whose revenues were up 42.2% in 2004. Honda, which made inroads into Korean market in May last year, is enjoying a steady increase in sales, selling 1,475 units last year. As the trend in sales of import cars is toward mid-size model passenger cars, the class of customer who buys import cars is forecast to diversify further. Right now, the domestic market share of Japan-made cars is no more than 1%. However, considering the sales performance of Japanese cars in major country markets, their competitiveness, and in particular, the competitiveness of Japanese hybrid cars, the best in the world, there is a strong possibility that Japan carmakers will encroach further upon the domestic market. From a long-term perspective, the market share of imported cars is estimated to reach 20-30% of the entire passenger car market. Q: At this year's 2005 Seoul Motor Show too, a raft of environment-friendly future-model autos will be introduced. What do you think of the government's support measures in the interests of environment-friendly auto development A: The world auto industry has recently begun to switch from gasoline as well as diesel as engine fuels in a drive to produce cars that are environment-friendly and highly efficient by grafting environmental and IT technology. The major advanced countries are creating funds to support the commercialization of environment-friendly autos such as hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. Though domestic carmakers were a little late, a hybrid vehicle was introduced for the first time last October, while the government has selected future-model autos as one of the 'next-generation growth engines'. However, the available funding is insufficient since this year's support budget for future-model auto technology development is no more than 10 billion won. In that regard, I suppose mid- to long-term support of over 100 billion won is necessary to prevent the Korean car industry falling behind that of the U.S. and Europe. Q: Auto parts manufacturers will also take part in this year's Seoul Motor Show in large numbers. What's your opinion on the necessity of government support to nurture the auto parts industry A: A car is composed of over 20,000 items. Thus, a finished car's competitiveness depends on the quality and price competitiveness of auto parts. However, the combined turnover of the top 10 domestic part manufacturers is less than 30% that of Delphi of the U.S. Since our level of cutting-edge core parts technology leaves something to be desired, the government's active and bold policy support toward the auto parts industry is needed in order to boost the competitiveness of future-model cars. For this reason, I think the government must nurture large-sized parts companies with over 20 employees. On the subject of the reorganization of the auto tax system, it is important to stabilize domestic demand for the domestic auto industry to grow into a global powerhouse. In that respect, improving the auto tax system toward the level of an advanced country-model must be backed.