It’s a seesaw game between Mercedes-Benz and BMW. In October, the import car market saw Benz clear out its accumulation of inventory, pulling nearly 1,000 units ahead of BMW. However, from January to October this year, BMW remains ahead with a cumulative sales difference of 713 units. This seesaw battle between the two companies is expected to continue until the end of the year.
Electric vehicle sales have escalated to the point where they’re nearly matching hybrid vehicle sales, establishing themselves as a mainstay in the electric vehicle segment.
The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association reported that the number of newly registered imported passenger cars in October totaled 25,363, representing a 6% increase from 23,928 units in September. Year-to-date total sales amount to 225,573, down 3.4% from 233,432 during the same period last year.
In October, the best-selling brand was Mercedes-Benz, reclaiming the top spot from BMW with 7,717 units sold, a 40.8% increase from the previous month’s 5,481 units. BMW sold 6,754 units, down 8.8% from 7,405 units the previous month. From January to October this year, BMW reported sales of 64,504 units while Mercedes-Benz reported 63,791 units.
In terms of engine displacement, 12,531 units (49.4%) of the registrations were for vehicles under 2,000cc, indicating that nearly half of customers purchasing imported passenger cars prefer compact models. Regionally, 21,189 units (83.5%) were sold from Europe, showcasing the strong attachment of most imported vehicle buyers to European automobiles.
In terms of fuel type sales, gasoline accounted for 12,251 units (48.3%), hybrids for 4,907 units (19.3%), and electric vehicles for 4,848 units (19.1%), indicating that pure electric vehicle sales have come very close to those of hybrids.
The best-selling models in October were the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2,771 units), BMW 5 Series (2,626 units), Mercedes-Benz GLE (1,225 units), and Audi Q4 e-tron (957 units), respectively.
Contact: Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr