This photo provided by Lexus Korea shows the New Generation ES300h hybrid.
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 31 percent in November from a year earlier as chip shortages continued to disrupt vehicle production and sales, an industry association said Friday.
The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 18,810 units last month from 27,436 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement.
The three bestselling models last month were Lexus’s ES300h sedan, Audi’s A6 45 TFSI sedan and Volvo’s XC40 B4 AWD SUV.
In November, three German brands — Audi-Volkswagen Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 11,752 units, down 38 percent from 18,842 the previous year.
German cars accounted for six 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 — sold a combined 1,950 units, down 1.9 percent from 1,987 during the same period.
From January to November, imported carmakers sold 252,242 autos here, up 3.6 percent from 243,440 units in the same period of last year.
Import brands accounted for 16.83 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market in October, down from 17.52 percent a year ago. Their market share for November will be available next month, KAIDA said.
(Yonhap)
