[Imported Cars Mid-Year Review] BMW Tops, Toyota Advances... Tesla and Volkswagen Decline

BMW Surpasses Mercedes, Audi Maintains 3rd Place
Lexus and Toyota Climb Rankings... Volvo Performs Well Despite No New Models
Sales Decline for Tesla and Volkswagen
Best-Selling Model: BMW 5 Series

The most imported car sold in South Korea in the first half of this year is BMW. The company, which ranked second in sales last year, surpassed its rival Mercedes-Benz by leading sales of the 5 Series. Lexus and Toyota improved their rankings compared to last year, seemingly overcoming the NO JAPAN (boycott of Japanese products) movement. On the other hand, Tesla and Volkswagen saw their sales drop to about half compared to the first half of last year.

BMW 5 Series
[Photo by BMW Korea]

According to data from the Korea Imported Automobile Association and Kaizyu Data Research Institute on the 7th, BMW Korea sold 38,106 units in the first half of this year, ranking first in imported car sales. This is a 1.5% increase compared to the same period last year (37,552 units). It sold 2,683 more units than Mercedes-Benz, which ranked second with 35,423 units. Mercedes-Benz sold 39,197 units in the first half of last year, achieving first place in the 'mid-term results.' At that time, BMW sold 37,552 units, trailing by 1,645 units. The gap between the two companies widened further in the second half, with Mercedes-Benz (80,976 units) edging out BMW by 2,431 units to secure the top spot for the seventh consecutive year.

Audi ranked third. It sold 9,636 units, an increase of 1,166 units compared to the same period last year (8,470 units). The vehicle driving this upward trend was the mid-to-large sedan A6. This model sold 4,561 units, accounting for about half of Audi's total sales.

The competition for third place has become fiercer. This is because the rising momentum of competing companies is formidable. Volvo Cars Korea maintained its fourth place in sales rankings, the same as last year. It sold 8,463 units, up from 7,013 units last year, with a growth rate of 20.7%. It achieved solid results despite having no new models such as a full model change this year. Lexus (5th place) showed an even more dramatic increase. It sold only 3,144 units in the first half of last year but more than doubled that to 6,950 units this year. The mid-to-large sedan ES (4,465 units) contributed significantly. Toyota, which was ranked 11th with 3,978 units in the first half of last year, rose to 8th place, appearing to have overcome the impact of the NO JAPAN movement.

Porsche (6th place) further increased its sales. It sold 6,226 units, up 32.6% from 4,694 units in the first half of last year. Whether the company can achieve sales of 10,000 units this year is a key point. After recording 7,779 units in 2020, surpassing 5,000 units for the first time, it achieved its best-ever performance last year by selling 8,963 units. The partial facelift of the most popular model, the Cayenne, scheduled for release in the second half of the year, is expected to act as a positive factor.

Some brands saw a decrease in sales. Tesla (9th place, 3,733 units) and Volkswagen (10th place, 3,240 units) saw their sales drop to about half compared to the first half of last year (6,746 units and 6,502 units, respectively). For Tesla, the fact that Model 3, which drove sales, was released four years ago is a factor, and for Volkswagen, temporary suspension of deliveries due to tripod defects and software errors seems to have had an impact.

The best-selling model in the first half was also BMW. The BMW 5 Series recorded 12,200 units, becoming the best-selling model. Additionally, the X4 (6th), 6 Series (7th), and X3 (10th) entered the top 10, showing BMW's popularity in both sedan and sport utility vehicle (SUV) segments.

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