The number of new imported vehicle registrations, mainly new imported electric vehicle (EV) registrations, slid, but only that of new imported hybrid vehicle registrations rose in Korea in October.
The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said on Nov. 3 that the number of newly registered imported passenger cars came in at 21,329 in October. The figure was down 15.9 percent from 25,363 a year earlier and 5.5 percent from 22,565 in September. This year, cumulative registrations through October totaled 219,071 units, down 2.9 percent from 225,573 in the same period last year.
By brand (excluding Tesla), Mercedes-Benz had the highest number of registrations with 6,612, followed by BMW (5,985), Volvo (1,263), Audi (1,151), Lexus (963), Volkswagen (853), Mini (732), Toyota (722), Porsche (705), and Chevrolet (587).
Registrations of EVs and hybrids categorized as eco-friendly vehicles showed a wide gap and a clear difference by fuels. One year ago, the shares of electric and hybrid vehicles were similar at 19.1 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively, but in October, their share gap widened as the shares of electric and hybrid vehicles stood at 11.1 percent and 33.3 percent, respectively.
EVs reached 2,357 registrations, a 51.4 percent plunge from 4,848 units a year ago. Gasoline vehicle registrations hit 9,790, down 20.1 percent from 12,251 a year ago. Diesel vehicles posted 1,556 registrations and plug-in hybrids 527, down 35.2 percent and 44.8 percent, respectively. On the contrary, hybrid vehicle registrations totaled 7,099, up 33.3 percent from 4,907 a year earlier.
By buyers, of the 21,329 units, 13,364 were purchased by individuals, accounting for 62.7 percent, and 7,965 by corporations, accounting for 37.3 percent.
The most registered model in October was the Mercedes-Benz E250 (2,412 units). The model was followed by the BMW 320 (777), the Lexus ES300h (529), the Benz E 350 4MATIC (476), and the Benz E220d 4MATIC (459).