April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Sales of imported vehicles in Korea plunged 18 percent in October due to shortened work days, industry data showed on Nov. 6.

The Chuseok holidays, the Korean version of Thanksgiving, fell early last month.

The number of newly registered foreign vehicles in the country fell to 16,833 in October from 20,612 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.

The three best-selling models were the BMW 520d, Honda Motor’s Accord and BMW 520d xDrive sedans. Seven out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Korea last month were from Europe, they showed.

In the January-October period, imported car sales here rose 2.5 percent to 190,394 autos from 185,801 units a year earlier, KAIDA said.

The share of imported vehicles in the domestic passenger car market rose to 15.09 percent in the 10-month period from 15.17 percent a year earlier, a KAIDA spokeswoman said.

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