All New Altima 2.5 SL was among the best-selling import car in Jan.-Apr. period. (image: Nissan Korea)
SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans preferred to buy expensive or low-priced imported vehicles in the January-April period, industry data showed Wednesday.
In the four-month period, sales of imported vehicles priced at less than 30 million won (US$27,000) jumped 81 percent to 2,960 units from a year earlier, numbers released by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) showed.
Among the best-selling imports were Nissan Motor Corp.’s Altima midsize sedan and the carmaker’s crossover utility vehicle Juke both priced at less than 30 million won, KAIDA said.
The sale of imported cars priced at over 100 million won climbed 41 percent on-year to 8,167 in the first quarter, according to KAIDA data.
The association did not have records for luxury car sales in April.
In the luxury car segment, German carmakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz outpaced rivals. Six out of 10 imported vehicles were from Germany in the Korean passenger car market as of the end of last month.
BMW’s X6 30d SUV and 730Ld xDrive sedan, as well as Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class 350 4Matic sedan and GLE 350d 4Matic coupe, were the best-sellers.
In contrast, the sale of imported cars priced at between 30 million won and 70 million won fell 13 percent to 47,670 units in the first quarter from 54,798 units a year earlier, the latest data showed.
(Yonhap)
