Although liquefied petroleum gas is cheaper and cleaner than gasoline or diesel, its consumption has mostly been limited to taxies and other commercial vehicles.
The lineup of LPG-powered vehicles available to private consumers consists of a handful of minivans.
However, the country's LPG car lineup is being beefed up by Kia Motors Corp., which will have six LPG options in its lineup by September.
In April last year, the government revised related regulations to allow carmakers to produce city cars - vehicles with under 1-liter engines - that run on LPG.
Ten months later, Kia Motors added liquefied petroleum injection to the lineup of the city car Morning. Although the LPG-powered Morning became available halfway through the first quarter of the year, more than 1,400 units were sold in February and March to account for 6.2 percent of the first quarter's Morning sales.
Although the LPG-powered Morning is about 20 percent less fuel efficient than its gasoline counterpart, the price gap more between LPG and gasoline more than makes up the difference. According to the Korea LPG Association, a liter of LPG cost on average 810.62 won while the same amount of gasoline was priced at 1,542.33 won during the first week of May.
Over a distance of 100 kilometers, Morning LPI with 4-speed automatic transmission would consume about 1.5 liters more fuel than a similarly equipped gasoline version. But due to the price difference, it would cost about 3,000 won ($2.4) less to fuel the Morning LPI.
Although at present the Morning is the only vehicle in its segment available with an LPG-powered engine, GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Co. is said to be considering developing an LPG version of its iconic city car Matiz.
Kia Motors' older LPG vehicles include the minivans Carnival and Carens and the light truck Bongo.
The company has even brought out an LPG-powered trim of the new sport utility vehicle Sorento R.
Although Hyundai Motor Co. tried LPG as fuel for SUVs with the Santa Fe, the car was short lived as it proved to be unpopular.
"Only about 2 percent of the Sorento Rs sold have the LPG engine and most opt for the 2.2-liter diesel engine," said a Kia Motors official.
"Although the LPG Santa Fe proved unpopular and the LPG Sorento R is not selling very well, by adding the LPG version to the lineup we are giving motorists a wider choice."
In addition, the company will be rolling out the LPG-electric hybrid version of the compact car Forte in September, which would expand its LPG lineup to six.
However, sedans that run on LPG are unlikely to be made widely vailable.
"People who buy larger, more expensive cars tend to be less concerned about fuel costs than those who opt for smaller more economic vehicles," said a Kia Motors official.
