This file photo provided by Volkswagen Korea shows the T-Roc 2.0 TDI SUV.
SEOUL, July 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 4.2 percent in June from a year earlier amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic, an industry association said Monday.
The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 26,191 units last month from 27,350 a year ago as the prolonged pandemic weighs on consumer demand, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement.
The three bestselling models last month were Volkswagen’s T-Roc 2.0 TDI SUV, Mercedes-Benz’s S 580 4MATIC sedan and BMW’s 530e sedan, it said.
In June, three German brands — Audi-Volkswagen Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 17,812 units, up 2.4 percent from 17,390 the previous year.
German cars accounted for 7 out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy last month, KAIDA said.
Three Japanese carmakers — Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and its independent brand Lexus — continued to report weak sales last month due to a protracted trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo.
Their sales declined 24 percent to 2,070 units in June from 2,735 a year earlier.
From January to June, imported carmakers sold a total of 147,757 autos, up 15 percent from 128,236 units in the same period of last year.
Imported brands accounted for 18.65 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market in May, up from 15.52 percent a year ago. Their market share for June will be available next month, KAIDA said.
(Yonhap)
