The once-thriving imported car market is now facing a noticeable decline.
According to the Korea Imported Automobile Association, the number of new registrations for imported passenger cars in July dropped by 13.1% from 25,300 in June to 21,977. Year-to-date, total sales stand at 147,629, which is a 2.8% decrease compared to 151,827 during the same period last year.
Looking at brand-specific sales numbers, BMW sold 6,380 vehicles in July, marking a 3.4% increase from the previous month’s 6,184 units. On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz saw a sharp drop, selling only 4,369 units—down 34.4% from June’s 6,661. Cumulatively, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have sold 41,510 (down 5.7% compared to last year’s 44,037) and 34,380 (down 15.8% from last year’s 40,817), respectively.
When it comes to engine size, registrations for vehicles under 2,000cc accounted for 9,575 units (43.6%), indicating that nearly 4 out of 10 consumers prefer compact models with lower maintenance costs. In terms of country of origin, European vehicles topped the list with 16,166 registrations (73.6%), as most consumers favored European brands. For fuel type, hybrids were the choice for 10,518 buyers (47.9%), suggesting that half of the new imported vehicle purchasers selected fuel-efficient hybrid options.
The best-selling cars in July were the 5 Series (1,645 units), Tesla Model Y (1,623 units), and Mercedes-Benz E-Class (1,505 units).
Insights by 이상진 daedusj@autodiary.kr