License to Luxury: How the ‘Yeondu License Plate’ Phenomenon is Redefining Corporate Car Culture

After the implementation of the ‘light green license plate’ system for corporate vehicles, the number of registered expensive corporate vehicles in the Gyeonggi region dropped significantly this year.

According to data requested by the Gyeonggi Ilbo on the 14th from Kaizu Data, an automobile statistics research organization, the number of corporate vehicles worth more than 80 million registered in Gyeonggi-do between January and August this year gained 1,110, a decrease of 54.2% from 2,401 in the same period last year.

By car type, the number of new car registrations for Hyundai Motor Company’s luxury brand Genesis G90, also known as the ‘Chairman’s car’, and Mercedes-Benz S Class corporate vehicles fell noticeably.

The number of new G90 vehicles registered between January and August this year was 301, down 63.1% from 817 units in the same period last year, and the Mercedes S-Class also showed the biggest decline, falling 78.2% from 679 to 148 during the same period.

In addition, 113 units of the BMW 7 Series were registered, a decrease of 37.2% compared to the same period last year (155 units), and 89 units of the Mercedes GLE were registered, a decrease of 39.9% since last year (148 units).

It is believed that the reason for this sudden drop in the number of new expensive corporate vehicle registrations is that the government mandates the installation of light green license plates on corporate vehicles priced at over 80 million won.

Choi Cheol, professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women’s University, said, “Despite the principle that corporate vehicles should only be used for business purposes, social criticism has been raised in many cases of them being used for personal purposes. Since corporate vehicles are clearly identified by light green license plates, corporate vehicle owners are consciously showing a tendency to reduce the purchase of expensive vehicles,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government administratively published in November 2023 an amendment to the ‘Notice on Standards for Vehicle Registration License Plates, etc.’, which aims to distinguish used corporate vehicles worth 80 million won or more by public and private corporations of universal registration plates. Starting this month, expensive corporate vehicles worth more than 80 million won will be required to have light green license plates.