April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Sales of imported vehicles in Korea continued to rise last year, aided by firm demand for foreign brands and the resumption of sales by Audi Volkswagen, industry data showed on Jan. 4.

The number of newly registered foreign vehicles reached 260,705 last year, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said in a statement. 

In December alone, however, the sales of foreign vehicles fell 8.7 percent on-year to 20,450, it said.

The market share of foreign cars rose to a record high of 16.7 percent last year, shattering the previous all-time high of 15.5 percent in 2015, the data showed.

The three best-selling models were the Mercedes-Benz E 300 (8,726 units sold) and E 300 4MATIC (9,141 units) and the Lexus ES300h (8,803 units). Seven out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Korea last month were from Germany, the statement said.

Audi VW resumed sales in Korea in late 2017 after suspending normal operations in 2016 following an emissions cheating scandal.

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