Surpass 30,000 Units for First Time
Sales of luxurious imported cars costing over 100 million won have surged despite the COVID-19 crisis.
A total of 30,929 such cars were sold in Korea during the first nine months of 2020, up 64 percent compared with 2019, said the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association and the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on Oct. 25.
The figure topped 30,000 units for the first time since 2003 when the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association began compiling the data. The figure was 18,857 units in the same period of 2019.
Imported cars worth over 150 million won sold 8,150 units, up 34.3 percent from 6,069 units in 2019.
The figure for those between 40 million won and 50 million won amounted to 31,871 units, up 52.0 percent from 20,969 in 2019. However, those in the price range of 50 million won to 100 million won posted 108,574 units, similar to 108,589 units in 2019.
Among the vehicles priced at over 50 million won, 139,503 were imported cars while the remaining 81,773 were domestically produced cars.
Mercedes-Benz came in first by selling 53,571 units. Even when Korean carmakers are included, Mercedes-Benz ranked fourth in the Korean passenger car market with a 4.2 percent share, outclassing GM Korea with 3.9 percent and Renault Samsung with 4.1 percent.