April 23, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Sales of imported vehicles in Korea rose some 12 percent last month from a year, industry data showed on Aug. 4.

The number of newly registered foreign-made cars stood at 17,628 units in July, up 12.1 percent from 15,730 units a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said in a statement.

But compared to June, the July sales marked a 25.8-percent drop, according to the data.

The association said the on-month decline in sales was attributable to a supply shortage.

Mercedes-Benz topped other imported brands in July, beating its archrival BMW. Mercedes-Benz sold 5,472 vehicles here, followed by BMW with 3,188 units, Lexus with 1,091 and Toyota with 1,047.

In the January-July period, imported car sales were up 2.5 percent to 132,479, it said.

Lexus’ ES300h was among the top three best-selling models with 660 units sold, along with Mercedes-Benz’s E220d 4MATIC sedan and Ford Explorer 2.3, the statement said.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)