IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/asieco/v98y2025ics1049007825000624.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is the transition to electric vehicles a crisis or an opportunity? The South Korean automotive industry experience

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Seoyoung
  • Kim, Hongbum
  • Hwang, Junseok

Abstract

The global automotive industry is undergoing a transformative shift driven by electric vehicles (EVs), reshaping supply chain structures and industrial ecosystems. This study examines the evolution of Korea’s automotive supply chain from 2008 to 2021, focusing on changes in regional roles and network dynamics amidst the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to EVs. The findings indicate that this transition has strengthened the robustness of Korea’s automobile industry by expanding and stabilizing supply chains, reorganizing traditional structures, and integrating new supply nodes. By applying the network positioning matrix, the study highlights the emergence of new regional clusters and the evolving roles of key supply chain actors. These insights emphasize the necessity of targeted industrial policies and long-term investment strategies at the national level to strengthen regional competitiveness in response to technological transformations.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Seoyoung & Kim, Hongbum & Hwang, Junseok, 2025. "Is the transition to electric vehicles a crisis or an opportunity? The South Korean automotive industry experience," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:98:y:2025:i:c:s1049007825000624
    DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101938
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049007825000624
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101938?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:98:y:2025:i:c:s1049007825000624. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/asieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.