BMW, Honda and Jeep Boost Sales in Korea in July

BMW Korea, Honda Korea and Jeep Korea considerably increased their sales volumes last month, when South Korean automakers stepped backwards with the only exception of Kia.

Last month, Honda sold 327 cars in the South Korean market, up 153.5 percent from a year ago. Jeep Korea’s sales volume increased 144.6 percent year on year to 1,003 and that of BMW Korea increased 57.8 percent to 6,022.

Mercedes-Benz Korea sold 7,083 cars last month, up 35.8 percent from a year earlier and followed by BMW, Audi (2,632) and Volvo (1,153). Lexus came in fifth with 1,027. The total sales volume of imported cars was 24,864, up 21.9 percent year on year. The sales volume of German cars increased 29.6 percent and those of Lexus and Toyota increased 37.1 percent and 32.9 percent, respectively. Tesla Korea’s dropped 65.6 percent on the other hand.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, a total of 24,389 imported cars were newly registered last month, up 23.3 percent from a year earlier. European, U.S. and Japanese cars accounted for 82.2 percent, 9.4 percent and 8.4 percent of the total new registration, respectively. By fuel type, gasoline vehicles made up 49.8 percent, followed by hybrid (29.7 percent), diesel (12.7 percent), plug-in hybrid (5.8 percent) and electric (2 percent). The best sellers of the month include Mercedes-Benz E250 (1,118), Mercedes-Benz E220d 4MATIC (880) and Lexus ES300h (678).

Kia sold 48,160 cars, up 2.4 percent from a year ago. The sales volumes of New Sportage and K8 added up to 2,427 and 6,009, respectively. Hyundai Motor Co.’s domestic sales volume decreased 22.6 percent to 59,856 and those of GM Korea, SsangYong Motor and Renault Samsung Motors fell 30.1 percent, 15.7 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively.