Budget shoppers trade up; premium shoppers scale back
In the 50–70 million won range, lenders matter more than models
An analysis of 620,000 comparison quotes from roughly 170,000 users of Chajeum, a car lease and rental comparison platform, found that consumers tend to adjust their target vehicle price range based on monthly payments as they shop around.
Chajeum released the findings Monday, drawing on 620,000 quote requests and data from 172,000 users accumulated from September 2024 through June 26. Among users who ran two or more comparison quotes, there were 92,494 — and they received an average of 5.8 quotes, compared 2.4 models on average, and then made a final vehicle selection.
Among users who started with a quote for a vehicle priced below 30 million won ($19,400), 48.9 percent moved to a higher price range. Another 39.6 percent stayed in the same range, while only 11.5 percent moved to a lower one.
Among those who traded up, 46.3 percent chose a vehicle averaging 9.39 million won more expensive, yet with a monthly payment difference of no more than 100,000 won. Of that group, 25.3 percent moved to a vehicle averaging 9.22 million won higher in price — a difference of roughly 1,000 won per day.
"A typical pattern is a user looking at the Casper adding 40,000 won a month to switch to the Avante, or an Avante shopper paying 70,000 won more a month to move up to the Seltos," Chajeum said. In practice, 58 percent of customers who started with the Casper (17.78 million won) ended up selecting a vehicle averaging 35.52 million won, while 56.4 percent of those who began with the Morning (16.17 million won) moved up to vehicles averaging 37.4 million won.
Chajeum noted that an installment purchase requires several million won upfront at once — covering acquisition tax, insurance and an initial lump sum — whereas leasing or renting flattens all costs into a single monthly payment.
Some 45.3 percent of all comparison users started their first quote in the 50 million to 70 million won range. This segment had the highest model-retention rate at 53.8 percent, with 20 percent upgrading and 26 percent downgrading, and almost no average price movement overall.
"For users in this price range, comparison shopping is not about changing their minds," Chajeum said. "They had already decided on a model and were focused on optimizing their monthly payment by comparing terms from an average of 2.6 lenders."
Among users who stuck with the same vehicle, monthly payment differences by lender averaged 111,000 won, with a median of 28,000 won. Over a 60-month term, that translates to an average cost difference of 6.67 million won, or about 1.68 million won at the median.
Among users who had been considering vehicles priced at 70 million won or more, 44.9 percent switched to a lower price range, while only 10.8 percent moved up. Consumers shopping in the premium segment gravitated toward alternatives that balanced price and practicality, including the Tesla Model Y, the Carnival Hybrid and the Palisade Hybrid.
Jung Sang-yeon, chief executive of Design & Practice, said the company would continue to refine its service "so that users can comfortably compare a wide range of models and start the car life they want on the most reasonable terms."
eyre@heraldcorp.com
