New King
Mercedes-Benz overtook BMW in March, reclaiming the top spot in the Korean import car market.
The number of newly registered imported cars reached 23,840 in Korea in March. This represented a decrease of 4.3 percent compared to the same period of 2022, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on April 5.
By brand, BMW took the first spot in January and February this year, but in March, Mercedes-Benz regained the top position with 6,533 units. It was followed by BMW (5,664 units), Audi (2,260 units), Volvo (2,156 units), Lexus (1,376 units), Porsche (1,117 units), Mini (786 units), Toyota (785 units), Land Rover (633 units), Chevrolet (565 units), Ford (552 units), Volkswagen (452 units), Jeep (274 units), and Peugeot (166 units). In particular, as the sales gap between Audi and Volvo declined, competition heated up.
By vehicle type, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class sold the most with 2,005 units, followed by the BMW 5 Series (1,520 units), the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1,051 units), the Lexus ES (1,003 units), the Audi A6 (975 units), and the Volvo XC60 (73 units).
By country, European cars enjoyed the highest sales at 19,933 units, but the figure was a decrease of 11 percent compared to a year before. On the other hand, sales of Japanese cars inflated by 85.7 percent from the previous year to 2,232 units, and sales of American cars by 26.1 percent to 1,675 units.
Meanwhile, cumulative sales in the first quarter were 18,134 units for BMW, 14,952 units for Mercedes-Benz, 6,914 units for Audi, 3,990 units for Volvo, 3,296 units for Lexus, and 2,966 units for Porsche.