The Fair Trade Commission launched on Monday its first-ever survey program, which entitles consumers to directly assess product quality based on their user experiences.

This marks the first time that a government agency, rather than civic organizations, will provide the sort of consumers’ product-evaluation reports in Korea.

Its first target is the sport utility vehicle sector of local and foreign carmakers such as Hyundai Motor, Renault Samsung Motors, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The state-run online poll is collecting assessments from Korean drivers on 139 SUV models between Sept. 18 and Nov. 30 via its website at www.smartconsumer.go.kr.

While the FTC operated a pilot program over the past two months, automobile industry insiders continued to raise the efficacy of consumer surveys.

Consumers are required to take privacy risks by submitting identification and car registration numbers to participate in the survey.

The pilot program attracted less than 100 participants amid the lukewarm reaction from consumers.

Auto industry officials are attentive to the results of the survey led by the antitrust watchdog. But they argue that comparison with a lower-than-expected number of reported cases would provoke a validity issue.

Among the vehicle models for the survey are Hyundai Motor’s Santa Fe, Kia Motors’ Sorento R, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz ML350 and Toyota Motor’s RX350.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)