Domestic Cars Face First Contraction This Year While Imported Cars Surge... July Sales Up 23% YoY

Despite First Contraction This Year for 5 Domestic Automakers... Imported Cars Soar

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Amid the impact of the vehicle semiconductor supply shortage, the sales volume of the five domestic automakers in South Korea decreased by 14.5% compared to the same period last year, marking the first negative growth this year, while imported cars are rapidly increasing their sales volume.

The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) announced on the 4th that the number of newly registered imported passenger cars last month increased by 23.3% year-on-year to 24,389 units. The cumulative number of new registrations from January to July this year also rose by 16.3% to 172,146 units.

By brand, Mercedes-Benz (7,083 units) and BMW (6,022 units) maintained the first and second positions, followed by Audi (2,632 units), Volvo (1,153 units), Lexus (1,027 units), Jeep (1,003 units), Volkswagen (941 units), Mini (870 units), and Chevrolet (755 units). By country, European cars accounted for an overwhelming 82.2% (20,044 units). The second and third places were occupied by American brands with 2,300 units (9.4%) and Japanese brands with 2,045 units (8.4%).

By engine displacement, the breakdown was as follows: under 2000cc with 13,612 units (55.8%), 2000cc to under 3000cc with 7,480 units (30.7%), 3000cc to under 4000cc with 2,558 units (10.5%), over 4000cc with 245 units (1.0%), and others with 494 units (2.0%). By fuel type, gasoline accounted for 12,142 units (49.8%), hybrid 7,242 units (29.7%), diesel 3,102 units (12.7%), plug-in hybrid 1,409 units (5.8%), and electric 494 units (2.0%).

By purchase type, individual purchases accounted for 15,179 units (62.2%) and corporate purchases for 9,210 units (37.8%). Among individual purchases, the highest registrations were in Gyeonggi with 4,823 units (31.8%), Seoul with 3,289 units (21.7%), and Busan with 952 units (6.3%). For corporate purchases, Incheon led with 3,471 units (37.7%), followed by Busan with 2,002 units (21.7%) and Daegu with 1,097 units (11.9%).

The best-selling model last month was the Mercedes-Benz E 250 with 1,118 units, followed by the Mercedes-Benz E220d 4MATIC with 880 units and the Lexus ES300h with 678 units in second and third place respectively. Im Han-gyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, stated, "New registrations of imported passenger cars last month decreased compared to the previous month due to supply shortages caused by the semiconductor supply shortage, temporary delivery delays of some models, and insufficient inventory."

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