June Imported Cars 26,191 New Registrations... 4.2% Decrease Compared to Previous Year

Mercedes-Benz and BMW Maintain 3rd and 4th Place in Domestic Market

[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 South Korea in June decreased by 4.2% year-on-year to 26,191 units. The cumulative registrations for the first half of the year (January to June) reached 147,757 units, a 15.2% increase compared to the same period last year.

According to KAIDA, by brand, Mercedes-Benz ranked first with 6,828 units, followed by BMW with 6,502 units. Other brands included Audi (1,848 units), Volkswagen (1,667 units), Volvo (1,451 units), Mini (1,197 units), Jeep (1,134 units), Lexus (1,055 units), and Porsche (967 units).

By engine displacement, vehicles under 2000cc accounted for 14,653 units (55.9%), 2000cc to under 3000cc for 8,052 units (30.7%), 3000cc to under 4000cc for 2,551 units (9.7%), over 4000cc for 161 units (0.6%), and others (electric vehicles) for 774 units (3.0%).

By country of origin, Europe led with 21,195 units (80.9%), followed by the United States with 2,926 units (11.2%), and Japan with 2,070 units (7.9%). By fuel type, gasoline vehicles accounted for 12,324 units (47.1%), hybrids 7,647 units (29.2%), diesel 3,285 units (12.5%), plug-in hybrids 2,161 units (8.3%), and electric vehicles 774 units (3.0%).

By purchase type, out of the 26,191 units, individual purchases accounted for 16,309 units (62.3%) and corporate purchases for 9,882 units (37.7%). Among individual purchases, registrations by region were Gyeonggi with 5,203 units (31.9%), Seoul with 3,552 units (21.8%), and Busan with 970 units (5.9%). For corporate purchases, registrations by region were Incheon with 3,661 units (37.0%), Busan with 2,253 units (22.8%), and Daegu with 1,208 units (12.2%).

Meanwhile, the best-selling models in June were the Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TDI (1,029 units), Mercedes-Benz S 580 4MATIC (965 units), and BMW 530e (703 units). Lim Han-gyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, explained, "New registrations of imported passenger cars in June increased compared to the previous month due to some brands securing inventory and the effect of new models."

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