SK Networks announced Monday that it will take its hands out of the gray-market imported car retailing business. Park Sang-kyu, the head of S-Movilion, SK Networks' auto business unit, said the company will no longer import cars after its last 50 in stock, including Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series vehicles, are sold out. It will close its showrooms in Daechi-dong and Bangbae-dong, but the one in Bangbae-dong will continue to provide repair service, he added.

SK Networks advanced into the gray import car market at the end of 2007, selling eight brands including Chrysler, Infiniti, Volvo, Peugeot, Lexus, and Jaguar. The intention was to offer high-end cars at affordable prices by importing them directly from overseas dealers rather than through official sales channels. The business was seen by customers as helping to force down prices of imported cars at first. However, as the won weakened and official foreign brand distributors reduced prices to compete with independent dealerships, the company began to lose its price edge.

SK Networks also said it has downsized its independent dealership business, which sells cars through contracts with automakers. It formerly sold eight foreign brands, but has cut back to three -- Chrysler, Jaguar-Land Rover, and Infiniti-Nissan. The company had looked into closing the independent dealership business, but decided to keep it.

"Although we are closing the gray-market business, we are still dealing in imported cars as an independent dealership and operating a separate repair center, so we will be able to provide customer service as before," a company spokesman said. But experts point out that its withdrawal from the gray-market business after only two years may disappoint customers who trusted the SK brand name.