This photo taken on Nov. 3, 2022, shows a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 50 percent last month from a year earlier despite the extended chip shortage, an industry association said Monday.
The number of newly registered foreign vehicles stood at 28,222 units last month, up from 18,810 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement.
The three bestselling models last month were BMW’s 520 sedan, Mercedes-Benz’s E 250 sedan and E 350 4MATIC sedan, the statement said.
In November, three German brands — Volkswagen Group Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 19,516 units, up 66 percent from 11,752 the previous year.
German cars accounted for nearly 70 percent of imported vehicles sold in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy last month, KAIDA said.
Three Japanese brands — Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and its independent brand Lexus — sold 1,447 units last month, down 26 percent from 1,950 a year earlier.
Imported brands accounted for 20.80 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market in October, down from 16.83 percent a year ago. Their market share for November has yet to be released, KAIDA said.
From January to November, imported car registrations rose 0.6 percent to 253,795 autos from 252,242 units during the same period of last year, it said.
(Yonhap)
