Registrations of New Imported Cars Drop for Six Consecutive Months

The imported car market in Korea has been going downhill for six consecutive months.

The number of newly registered imported passenger cars dropped 16.8 percent in June on year to register19,386 units, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said on July 3. First-half sales totaled 109,314 units, down 22.0 percent from the same period last year.

The top seller in June was Mercedes with 6,632 units, followed by BMW with 3,292, Toyota with 1,384, Lexus with 1,302, Jeep with 939, Volvo with 871, Ford with 833, Honda with 801, and Volkswagen with 628.

Compared with the same period of 2018, sales of BMW, Ford and Volkswagen fell 21.5 percent, 24.9 percent, and 65.9 percent, respectively. However, those of Mercedes-Benz and Toyota edged up 6.1 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, while those of FCA Korea, Volvo and Honda surged by more than 20 percent.

Last month, the best-selling car honor went to the Mercedes-Benz E 300 with 1,158 units. It was followed by the Mercedes-Benz E 300 4MATIC (921 units) and the BMW 520 (788 units).