Korea’s used car exports have been booming recently, with this year’s figures expected to hit a record high, largely driven by the favorable exchange rate and renewed awareness of Korean carmakers globally.

According to the Korea Used Car Export Association on Tuesday, Korea exported 244,665 second-hand cars in the first nine months of this year. That compares to total exports of 248,275 cars last year.

Of them, 169,548, or 69.3 percent, were passenger vehicles, while trucks and vans made up 21.3 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively.

Korea is currently the world’s fourth largest exporting country of used cars, next to the European Union, Japan and the United States.

The most favored destination is Jordan where the average export price of Korean used cars is 6.5 million won ($6,000) per vehicle. Russia, where the price is far higher at 15-30 million won, is also fast emerging.

Other than the product quality of Korean cars, the group said, the steering wheel located on the left seat unlike Japanese cars also affects car sales in overseas markets positively.

The group predicted the current 1 trillion won export market for Korean used cars to expand to 3 to 4 trillion won by 2018, with their destinations diversifying to include Africa and South America.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)