March New Imported Car Registrations 27,297 Units 34%↑... Mercedes-Benz and BMW Domestic Sales 3rd and 5th Place

Mercedes-Benz Maintains 3rd Place, Surpassing Mid-Tier Automakers

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) announced on the 5th that the number of newly registered imported passenger cars in March increased by 34.4% year-on-year to 27,297 units. The cumulative number of new registrations in the first quarter also rose by 31.5% to 71,908 units.

By brand, Mercedes-Benz ranked first with 7,597 units. This surpassed the performance of three mid-sized foreign automakers?Korea GM (6,149 units), Renault Samsung Motors (5,695 units), and SsangYong Motor (4,306 units)?making it the third largest in the domestic market after Hyundai and Kia.

BMW also recorded 6,012 registrations, ranking fifth in the domestic market after Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Korea GM. Other brands ranked as follows: Audi (2,737 units), Volkswagen (1,628 units), Jeep (1,557 units), Volvo (1,251 units), Mini (1,224 units), Porsche (980 units), Lexus (860 units), Chevrolet (733 units), Ford (557 units), and Toyota (554 units).

The best-selling model in March was the Mercedes-Benz E250, with a total of 1,964 units sold. It was followed by the Audi A6 45 TFSI (573 units) and the Mercedes-Benz E350 4MATIC (564 units).

By engine displacement, vehicles under 2,000cc accounted for the largest share with 16,968 units (62.2%), followed by 2,000cc to under 3,000cc with 7,862 units (28.8%), 3,000cc to under 4,000cc with 1,658 units (6.1%), over 4,000cc with 297 units (1.1%), and others (electric vehicles) with 512 units (1.9%).

By country of origin, Europe led with 22,240 units (81.5%), followed by the United States with 3,320 units (12.2%) and Japan with 1,737 units (6.4%). By fuel type, gasoline vehicles accounted for 14,840 units (54.4%), diesel 4,043 units (14.8%), hybrid 5,866 units (21.5%), plug-in hybrid 2,036 units (7.5%), and electric vehicles 512 units (1.9%).

By purchase type, individual purchases were the most common with 18,008 units (66.0%), while corporate purchases accounted for 9,289 units (34.0%). Among individual purchases, registrations by region were Gyeonggi with 5,739 units (31.9%), Seoul with 4,033 units (22.4%), and Busan with 1,054 units (5.9%). For corporate purchases, registrations by region were Incheon with 3,649 units (39.3%) and Busan with 2,073 units (22.3%).

Im Han-gyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, explained, "The increase in new registrations of imported passenger cars in March was due to an increase in business days compared to the previous month and active promotions by each brand."

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