In April, Mercedes-Benz reclaimed its position as the leader in the imported car market.
The Korea Imported Automobile Association reported on the 7th that the number of new registrations for imported passenger cars in April totaled 21,560, a decrease of 14.7% from March’s 25,263 units. The cumulative sales for the year reached 76,143, down 7.8% compared to 82,594 units during the same period last year.
By brand, Mercedes-Benz took the top spot in sales, with 6,683 units sold—a remarkable increase of 59.2% from the previous month’s 4,197 units. A spokesperson from Mercedes-Benz Korea stated, “The start of customer deliveries for the previously stalled E220d and E450 models has significantly boosted sales.” BMW ranked second with 5,750 units sold, a decrease of 12.2% from the previous month’s 6,549 units. Tesla came in third place with 1,722 units sold, a significant drop of 71.4% from the previous month’s 6,025 units.
In terms of engine displacement, registrations below 2,000cc accounted for 11,212 units (52.0%), indicating that more than half of imported car customers prefer compact models with lower running costs. Regarding country of origin, European cars dominated the sales with 16,856 units (78.2%), reflecting a strong preference among imported car customers for European vehicles. When looking at fuel types, hybrid cars were the most popular with 11,177 units sold (51.8%), signifying that a majority of imported car buyers opted for efficient hybrid models.
In April, the best-selling models were the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2,081 units), Tesla Model 3 (1,716 units), and BMW 5 Series (1,556 units).
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr