April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Sales of imported commercial vehicles rose 15 percent last month from a year earlier on increased demand, a local automobile association said on Nov. 19.

The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles rose to 343 units in October from 298 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said in a statement. 

“Local demand for imported trucks, buses and vans remained steady though there was no sharp growth amid the slowing economy, rising rates and debts,’ a KAIDA spokeswoman said over the phone.

Imported commercial vehicles are widely viewed as being more upmarket than domestically produced rivals, and offer more choices for users.

From January to October, the number of imported commercial vehicles sold in Korea climbed 3.4 percent to 3,712 units from 3,589 in the year-ago period, it said.

The five major imported commercial brands are MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Trucks, Scania and Iveco. They sell trucks, buses and vans.

There are three kinds of trucks. Two of them, covering cargo and tractor-trailer areas, are regarded as commercial vehicles, but the third, referred to as a dump truck, is classified as construction equipment.

KAIDA began to compile sales data of imported commercial vehicles in January last year and plans to collect sales data of dump trucks in the country later this year to offer more comprehensive sales data.

Imported commercial vehicles currently account for the lion’s share of the domestic commercial vehicle market, but their exact market share has not been released. 

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)