Seoul, May 10, 2004 --- Honda Korea Co., Ltd., Honda’s subsidiary in Korea, today announced plans to begin the import and sales of automobiles in the Republic of Korea. Sales will begin May 20, with the Accord Sedan. 

Based on the North American version of Accord that was first introduced to the US market in September 2002, the model to be sold in Korea has been modified to meet the needs and preferences of customers in Korea. The Accord achieves high quality, reliability and safety as well as excellent driving performance, interior space, functionality and sporty styling. The sales price for the 3.0-liter V6 model will be 38.9 million won, and 33.9 million won for the 2.4-liter model. The Accord sold in Korea will be manufactured in Honda’s plant in Saitama, Japan. 

Honda Korea is in the process of developing its own dealer network to handle automobile sales, service and parts sales. Honda Korea plans to establish four dealers this year three in Seoul and one in Pusan ? with the first Honda dealer in Seoul to begin operation, May 20, 2004. 

Since the Asian currency crisis of 1997, the Korean automobile market has become one of the largest markets in Asia with annual sales of 1.32 million units in 2003. The market for imported automobiles grew to the size of approximately 20,000 units in 2003 due to policy changes including a gradual tariff reduction and the end of an embargo on Japanese auto imports which took place in 1999. 

In preparation for entering the Korean import automobile market, in 2003, Honda added responsibility for automobile sales to its existing motorcycle sales subsidiary, Honda Motorcycle Korea, and renamed the company Honda Korea. In addition, the amount of capital was increased from the previous 3 billion won to the current level of 12 billion won.