Sales of imported light passenger vehicles in South Korea fell slightly to 21,249 units in October 2024 compared with 21,329 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (Kaida).
The association said that sales of import brands last month were affected by low inventories and shortages of some key models, after sales grew by 10% year-on-year in September. Also, a total of 1,263 Tesla sales were reported by the association last month compared with none last year. By contrast sales of domestic vehicles rose by 6% to 123,810 units last month, driven mainly by new models from Hyundai Motor.
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Import sales in the first ten months of the year were 1.4% lower at 215,980 units from 219,071 units in the same period of last year, reflecting mainly sluggish sales in the first half of the year. German-owned brands accounted for over 66% of total import sales year-to-date (YTD), with segment leader BMW reporting a 3% drop to 60,585 units despite the launch of its new 5-series sedan at the beginning of the year, while its Mini brand reported an 19% drop to 6,272 units.
Mercedes-Benz saw its sales fall by 11% to 54,475 units YTD despite the launch of the new E-series sedan earlier in the year. Volkswagen’s sales declined by 15% to 6,657 units, while Porsche’s dropped by 30% to 6,744 units and Audi’s plunged by 51% to 7,472 units.
Tesla reported 24,880 sales YTD, while Volvo’s sales fell by 11% to 12,284 units. Toyota enjoyed a 15% sales increase to 7,813 units, while its Lexus unit saw its sales rise by 4% to 11,479 units after making strong gains last year.
Importers are estimated to have accounted for close to 20% of BEV sales in South Korea so far this year, led by Tesla and Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW, while China’s BYD is expected to enter the market later this year.
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