Imported vehicle sales drop 24 percent in December
Published: 05 Jan. 2022, 18:52
The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 23,904 units last month from 31,419 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (Kaida) said in a statement.
"Chip supply issues continued to weigh on vehicle sales last month despite a variety of new models, aggressive marketing and individual consumption tax cuts," Kaida said.
The bestselling models last month were Mercedes-Benz's E 250 sedan, Lexus ES300h sedan and BMW's 520 sedan, it said.
In December, three German brands — Audi-Volkswagen Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 16,542 units, down 24 percent from 21,830 the previous year.
German cars accounted for seven out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Asia's fourth-biggest economy last month, Kaida said.
Three Japanese carmakers — Honda Motor, Toyota Motor and its independent brand, Lexus — sold a combined 1,567 units, down 32 percent from 2,314 during the same period.
For the whole of 2021, imported carmakers sold 276,146 autos here, up 0.5 percent from 274,859 units a year earlier.
Import brands accounted for 15.35 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market in November, down from 18.22 percent a year ago. Their market share for December will be available next month, Kaida said.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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