25,000 Imported Passenger Cars in March... 28% Increase Compared to Previous Month

The Best-Selling Vehicle is the Benz E 250

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] The number of new registrations for imported passenger cars last month increased by nearly 30% compared to the previous month. This was influenced by the new car effects and securing of inventory by some brands.

The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) announced on the 5th that the number of new registrations for imported passenger cars in March recorded 24,912 units, a 28.1% increase from 19,454 units in February. However, it decreased by 8.7% compared to the same period last year.

By brand, Mercedes-Benz (8,767 units), BMW (6,837 units), and Volvo (1,309 units) ranked first to third. They were followed by MINI (1,273 units), Audi (1,155 units), Volkswagen (1,053 units), Porsche (951 units), Lexus (554 units), Jeep (536 units), and Toyota (526 units). Additionally, Chevrolet (361 units), Peugeot (290 units), Land Rover (277 units), Polestar (249 units), Ford (177 units), Lincoln (167 units), and Honda (122 units) each sold over 100 units.

By engine displacement, vehicles under 2000cc accounted for the largest share with 13,794 units (55.4%). Next were 2000?3000cc with 7,974 units (32.0%), 3000?4000cc with 1,290 units (5.2%), and over 4000cc with 281 units (1.1%). By country of origin, Europe led with 22,387 units (89.9%), followed by Japan with 1,202 units (4.8%) and the United States with 1,323 units (5.3%).

By fuel type, gasoline was the most popular with 11,116 units (44.6%), followed by hybrid with 7,543 units (30.3%), diesel with 2,744 units (11.0%), plug-in hybrid with 1,936 units (7.8%), and electric with 1,573 units (6.3%).

By purchase type, out of 24,912 units, individual purchases accounted for 14,418 units (57.9%), while corporate purchases were 10,494 units (42.1%). Among individual purchases, Gyeonggi Province had the highest registrations with 4,676 units (32.4%), followed by Seoul with 3,103 units (21.5%) and Busan with 844 units (5.9%). For corporate purchases, Incheon led with 3,643 units (34.7%), followed by Busan with 2,379 units (22.7%) and Daegu with 1,288 units (12.3%).

The best-selling models last month were the Mercedes-Benz E 250 (1,098 units), Mercedes-Benz E 350 4MATIC (904 units), and BMW 520 (677 units).

Im Hangyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, explained, “The new registrations of imported passenger cars in March increased compared to the previous month due to the new car effects and securing of inventory by some brands.”

Meanwhile, the number of new registrations for imported passenger cars in the first quarter of this year was 61,727 units, a 14.2% decrease compared to the same period last year.

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