The winner of the imported car market in Q1 is BMW. Although Mercedes-Benz has been aggressively pursuing with a strong supply strategy, BMW has managed to stay ahead by over 3,000 units. Overall sales in the imported car market saw a slight decline during the first quarter.
According to the Korea Imported Automobile Association, the sales of imported cars for Q1 2023 stood at 61,684 units, showing a modest decrease of 0.1% compared to 61,732 units in the previous year. BMW emerged as the best-selling imported car brand for the first quarter, with sales of 18,134 units, a slight increase of 0.5% from 18,043 units the previous year. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz recorded sales of 14,952 units, marking a decrease of 17.6% compared to 18,142 units from the previous year. Audi experienced a significant surge, selling 6,914 units, up 89% from 3,651 units the year before.
When looking at vehicle registration by engine size, 34,624 customers (56.1%) opted for vehicles with an engine size of less than 2,000cc, indicating that more than half of imported car buyers prefer compact cars that incur lower maintenance costs.
In terms of country of origin, European vehicles dominated the market with 52,151 units sold (84.5%), reflecting a strong preference among imported car buyers for European cars.
By fuel type, gasoline models accounted for 30,849 sales (50.0%), indicating that half of those purchasing imported cars chose gasoline options.
The best-selling models for the first quarter were the BMW 5 Series (6,103 units), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (4,574 units), and Audi A6 (3,469 units) in that order.
Contact: 이상진 daedusj@autodiary.kr