“South Korean customers bought fewer diesel models as the government plans to reduce fine dust emissions by reducing the operations of diesel vehicles.” (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 0.5 percent last month from a year earlier on lower demand for diesel models, industry data showed Wednesday.
The number of newly registered foreign cars fell to 19,380 in May from 19,470 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement.
Sales of diesel-powered vehicles fell 19 percent to 9,952 units last month from 12,238 units a year earlier, it said.
“South Korean customers bought fewer diesel models as the government plans to reduce fine dust emissions by reducing the operations of diesel vehicles, a major culprit of fine dust pollution,” a KAIDA spokesman said.
In the January-May period, imported car sales rose 1.2 percent to 94,397 from 93,314 on-year, the statement said.
The share of imported vehicles in the domestic passenger car market rose to 14.7 percent in May from 13.61 percent a year earlier, KAIDA said.
(Yonhap)
