April Imported Car Registrations Reach 25,578 Units... Mercedes-Benz Sweeps Best-Selling Ranks 1 to 3

Mercedes-Benz and BMW Surpass Korea GM, Renault Samsung, and Ssangyong in Domestic Sales... Overall 3rd and 4th Place

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The Korea Imported Automobile Dealers Association (KAIDA) announced on the 6th that the number of new registrations for imported passenger cars in April reached 25,578 units. This represents an 11.5% increase compared to the same period last year, but a 6.3% decrease compared to the previous month.

By brand, Mercedes-Benz maintained its top position with 8,430 units, up 25.0% year-on-year and 11.0% month-on-month. BMW followed with 6,113 units. This surpassed the domestic sales volume last month of the three foreign-affiliated domestic automakers: Korea GM (5,470 units), Renault Samsung Motors (5,466 units), and SsangYong Motor (3,318 units).

Other brands included Audi (1,320 units), Volvo (1,263 units), Volkswagen (1,080 units), Mini (1,051 units), Jeep (1,001 units), Porsche (978 units), Ford (902 units), Lexus (826 units), Chevrolet (737 units), Toyota (523 units), Lincoln (447 units), Honda (235 units), Peugeot (221 units), and Land Rover (119 units).

However, the number of new registrations decreased month-on-month due to supply shortages in some brands. Audi (-51.8%), Volkswagen (-33.7%), and Jeep (-35.7%) were representative examples. A source from the imported car industry stated, "The supply shortage in some companies is not due to the semiconductor supply issue for vehicles," adding, "It appears to be a complex effect of adjustments due to model changes and logistics problems."

Meanwhile, by engine displacement, imported car new registrations were highest for under 2000cc at 14,623 units (57.2%), followed by 2000cc to under 3000cc at 8,395 units (32.8%), 3000cc to under 4000cc at 1,812 units (7.1%), 4000cc and above at 238 units (0.9%), and electric vehicles at 510 units (2.0%). By country, Europe accounted for 20,831 units (81.4%), the United States 3,163 units (12.4%), and Japan 1,584 units (6.2%). By fuel type, gasoline led with 12,537 units (49.0%), followed by hybrid at 7,082 units (27.7%), diesel at 3,638 units (14.2%), and plug-in hybrid at 1,811 units (7.1%).

By purchase type, individual purchases accounted for 16,129 units (63.1%), and corporate purchases 9,449 units (36.9%).

The best-selling models were Mercedes-Benz's E250 (1,499 units), E350 4MATIC (912 units), and GLE 450 4MATIC (731 units), ranking first through third respectively. Other leading models included BMW 520 (648 units), Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 2.0 TDI (539 units), and Lexus ES300h (531 units).

Im Han-gyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, explained, "New registrations of imported passenger cars in April decreased compared to the previous month due to supply shortages in some brands."

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