Imported Cars in January: Hybrids Exceed Half... Lexus Rapidly Rises to 3rd Place

Monthly Imported Car Sales Share, Hybrid Surpasses 50% for the First Time
Hybrid Share 54%... Including PHEV 58%
Lexus Rises to 3rd Riding the Hybrid Wave
Japanese Car Market Share Triples to 15% Year-on-Year

The proportion of hybrid vehicles among imported cars sold in January this year exceeded 50% for the first time. This means that more than 5 out of 10 imported cars sold this year were hybrids. As the hybrid trend sweeps the imported car market, Lexus has rapidly risen to become the third-ranked brand.

According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on the 5th, among the 13,083 newly registered imported cars in January this year, hybrids accounted for 54% (7,065 units). Including plug-in hybrids, the share rises to 58%. This is the first time the monthly share of hybrids in imported car sales has exceeded half.

With the increase in hybrid sales, the Japanese car brand Lexus surpassed competitors such as Volvo and Audi to rank third in sales. The market share of Japanese car brands also nearly tripled to 15% compared to 5.6% in the same period last year.

Lexus ES300h

By sales ranking, BMW was first with 4,330 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 2,931 units in second place. Lexus ranked third with 998 units sold, Volvo fourth with 965 units, and Toyota fifth with 786 units sold. Combining Lexus and Toyota, the Toyota Group rises firmly to third place with 1,784 units.

Meanwhile, imported car sales in January this year totaled 13,083 units, down 19.4% compared to the same period last year. This contrasts with domestic car sales, which increased by more than 10% during the same period. Industry insiders point to the lack of a hybrid lineup as the cause of the recent slowdown in imported car sales. The imported car market, centered on German cars, is relatively lacking in hybrid lineups compared to domestic cars.

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