This photo provided by GM Korea on Aug. 26, 2019, shows Colorado pickup trucks, carrying a bicycle, a motorcycle and kayaks, at Welli Hilli Park in Hoengseong, 140 kilometers east of Seoul.
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 6.6 percent in September from a year earlier due to fewer working days and supply glitch that stemmed from parts shortages, an industry association said Wednesday.
The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 20,406 units last month from 21,839 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement.
“The monthly sales results are attributable to fewer working days due to the Chuseok holiday and disrupted production due to semiconductor parts shortages,” the statement said.
The three bestselling models last month were Chevrolet’s Colorado pickup, Mercedes-Benz’s GLC 300e 4MATIC Coupe and GLC 300e 4MATIC SUV.
In September, three German brands — Audi-Volkswagen Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 13,646 units, down 9.7 percent from 15,104 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 improved sales last month following years of weak sales due to a protracted trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo.
Their sales climbed 9.3 percent to 1,593 units in September from 1,458 a year earlier.
From January to September, imported carmakers sold 214,668 autos, up 12 percent from 191,747 units in the same period of last year.
Import brands accounted for 20 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market in August, up from 18.61 percent a year ago. Their market share for September will be available next month, KAIDA said.
(Yonhap)
