Up 5.3% from a Year Before
COVID-19 infections did not affect the imported car market in Korea. In February, imported car sales increased, led by Chevrolet.
The number of new imported cars registered in February totaled 16,725 units, up 5.3 percent from the same period of last year (15,885 units). The figure was a drop of 5.2 percent from the previous month (17,640 units), but cumulative sales in the first two months of the year were 34,365 units, an increase of 0.8 percent from the same period in 2019 (34,083 units).
By brand, Mercedes-Benz sold 4,815 units, the largest number, followed by BMW with 3,812 units, Chevrolet with 973 units, Volvo with 928, Mini with 768, Volkswagen with 710 and Audi with 535.
Japanese car brands still struggled. Toyota sold 512 units, down 41.5 percent from a year earlier (875), and Lexus’ sales dropped 63 percent to 475. Nissan’s sales fell 24.6 percent to 267 units, while Honda dropped 55.7 percent to 360 units.
In February, BMW's 520 model sold 691 units, the highest among imported models. Mercedes-Benz's E300 4MATIC sold 670 units and the A220 Sedan sold 661 units, making them best-selling cars.
By country, European cars sold the most at 12,956 units (77.5 percent), followed by Japan's 1,651 (9.9 percent) and the United States’ 2,118 (12.7 percent). By fuel, 10,640 cars were gasoline models, accounting for 63.6 percent. They were followed by 4,570 diesel models (27.3 percent), 1,326 hybrids (7.9 percent) and 189 electric vehicles (1.1 percent).