Mercedes-Benz sales up by nearly 300 percent

German automakers saw their sales numbers rise in Korea for September as demand for Japanese vehicles fell due to the continuing boycott against Japanese goods.

According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on Sunday, Mercedes-Benz ranked third in vehicle sales for September coming after Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, selling 7,707 passenger cars in the country last month, up almost 300 percent from 1,943 units posted in the same month last year.

Mercedes-Benz came in third place after Hyundai Motor of 40,982 units and Kia Motors with 38,480 cars and recorded the highest monthly sales figure since March last year. The German automaker was followed by Renault Samsung Motors, SsangYong Motor, GM Korea and BMW.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors together occupied 66.9 percent of all vehicles sales in Korea last month, and Mercedes-Benz took up 6.5 percent of the pie. Korea is the fifth-largest market for Mercedes-Benz after China, the United States, Germany and Britain.

BMW saw its vehicle sales rise 107.1 percent to 4,249 units last month as it strives to reclaim leadership in the local import car market and distance itself from last year’s burning BMW fiasco by letting drivers know what do if they find themselves in a car that’s on fire.

The high sales number for the German automaker came amid Japanese automakers seeing their sales numbers decline due to growing anti-Japan sentiment.

Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor together sold 634 units in September, down 74 percent from the 2,431 units they sold a year earlier. Lexus, a luxury brand from Toyota, was the only Japanese car brand that saw sales rise for the month.

The luxury brand’s sales for September rose around 50 percent to 469 units from 313 units in the same month last year.

BY KO JUN-TAE [ko.juntae@joongang.co.kr]