Foreign Car Market Sees Positive Trend in New Year... January Registrations Increase by 26%

Hybrid Car Sales Surge

Export vehicles are waiting to be loaded at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province on the 11th, two days before Chuseok, the biggest traditional holiday of the nation. (Aerial photography cooperation: Sergeant Lee Yong-gil, Aviation Unit, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency; Inspector Park Hyung-sik, Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency) / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] The imported car market continues to see a favorable trend in the new year. The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) announced on the 3rd that the number of newly registered imported passenger cars in January reached 22,321 units. Although this represents a 29.0% decrease compared to the previous month, it is a 26.5% increase compared to the same month last year.

The January sales volume of 22,321 units is the highest since KAIDA began compiling related statistics in 2003. It surpassed the previous record of 21,075 units set in January 2018. Typically, January is considered an off-season for the imported car industry, but the increase in automobile demand since last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic's global impact is cited as the reason.

Professor Lee Ho-geun of Daeduk University stated, "Last year, as demand for travel and other activities sharply declined due to COVID-19, automobile demand surged as a counter-effect," adding, "This situation is expected to continue for the time being."

Among the imported passenger car results last month, the remarkable growth of eco-friendly vehicles stands out. By fuel type, gasoline cars still accounted for the largest share at 51.6% (11,518 units), but hybrid cars surged nearly fourfold from 7.3% (1,281 units) in January last year to 26.8% (5,987 units) this January. Electric vehicles, though still a small share, increased significantly from 0.1% (20 units) to 0.5% (120 units).

Meanwhile, the number of newly registered vehicles by brand in January showed Mercedes-Benz at 5,918 units, BMW at 5,717 units, and Audi at 2,302 units forming the top three. Following them were Volkswagen (1,236 units), Volvo (1,198 units), Chevrolet (1,195 units), and Mini (712 units).

By engine displacement, vehicles under 2000cc accounted for the largest share with 14,855 units (66.6%), followed by 2000cc to under 3000cc with 5,507 units (24.7%), 3000cc to under 4000cc with 1,570 units (7.0%), 4000cc and above with 269 units (1.2%), and others (electric vehicles) with 120 units (0.5%). Among individual models, Mercedes-Benz's E250 and E350 4MATIC, and BMW's 520 ranked first to third respectively.

Im Han-gyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, explained, "Although the newly registered imported passenger cars in January decreased compared to the previous month due to seasonal off-season factors, they increased compared to the same month last year due to some brands securing inventory and the effect of new models."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.