More than 270,000 Units Sold
Imported car sales in Korea totaled 274,859 units in 2020, exceeding the previous record high of 260,705 units set in 2018, the Korea Automobile Importers Association (KAIDA) said on Jan. 6.
The number of newly registered imported cars in 2020 rose 12.3 percent on year. Imported cars sold 31,419 units in December 2020, shattering the previous monthly sales record.
Mercedes-Benz sold 76,879 units in 2020, solidifying its top position in Korea’s imported car market. It achieved the 70,000-unit milestone for the first time in 2018 and has since finished first for three consecutive years. The carmaker’s growth was led by the E250 model which sold 10,321 units.
BMW, which finished second, also received a good business scorecard in 2020. BMW’s sales peaked at 59,624 units in 2017 and sank to 44,000 units in 2019 due to a massive recall that tarnished its reputation in Korea. However, it posted 58,393 units in sales in 2020 through aggressive marketing activities for new models. It completely recovered to the level before the outbreak of the recall.
Audi and Volkswagen expanded their market shares substantially in 2020. Audi sold 25,513 units and Volkswagen 17,615 units, ranking third and fourth. Until 2019, the two carmakers’ annual sales remained around 10,000 units due to a lack of popular models in their lineups. Analysts say that the two imported car brands succeeded in turning the tide by launching many new models in 2020. The two brands accounted for more than 70 percent of the total sales growth of imported cars (about 30,000 units). Volkswagen’s Tiguan 2.0 TDI ranked second in the best-selling imported car rankings with 8,631 units.
Apart from them, various brands expanded their presence riding on a boom in the imported car market. Fourth-ranking Volkswagen was followed by Volvo (12,798 units), Chevrolet (12,455 units), Mini (11,245 units), Lexus (8,911 units), Jeep (8,753 units), and Porsche (7,779 units). As a result, the number of imported car brands that sold more than 10,000 units a year jumped to seven in 2020. If Tesla (11,826 units) is included, eight imported car brands sold more 10,000 units in Korea.
However, Japanese car brands continued to suffer a setback due to Korean consumers’ boycott. Their sales hit 36,661 units in 2019 but barely exceeded 20,000 units in 2020. Their combined market share also shrank from 15 percent to 7 percent. German car brands benefited from the lackluster performance of Japanese carmakers, boosting the overall European car brands' share in the Korean market to over 80 percent.