June New Imported Car Registrations 22,695 Units... 13.3% Decrease YoY

Mercedes-Benz 'The New E-Class'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] The Korea Imported Automobile Association (KAIDA) announced on the 5th that the number of newly registered imported passenger cars in June was 22,695 units. This represents a 3.5% decrease compared to May and a 13.3% decrease compared to the same period last year. The cumulative number for the first half of this year was 131,009 units, down 11.3% from 147,757 units in the same period last year.

By brand, BMW had the highest number of registrations last month with 6,449 units. This was followed by Mercedes-Benz with 5,845 units, Audi with 1,903 units, Volvo with 1,306 units, Volkswagen with 1,099 units, and Mini with 1,086 units.

Other brands included Lexus with 734 units, Porsche with 669 units, Jeep with 644 units, Toyota with 626 units, Chevrolet with 625 units, Honda with 469 units, Ford with 378 units, Lincoln with 213 units, Land Rover with 182 units, Peugeot with 124 units, Bentley with 80 units, Cadillac with 70 units, Maserati with 60 units, Polestar with 57 units, Lamborghini with 35 units, Jaguar with 20 units, Rolls-Royce with 18 units, and DS with 3 units.

By engine displacement, vehicles under 2000cc accounted for the largest share with 12,916 units (56.9%). This was followed by 2000-3000cc with 7,207 units (31.8%), 3000-4000cc with 1,156 units (5.1%), over 4000cc with 323 units (1.4%), and others (electric vehicles) with 1,093 units (4.8%).

By country of origin, Europe led with 18,936 units (83.4%), followed by the United States with 1,930 units (8.5%) and Japan with 1,829 units (8.1%).

By fuel type, gasoline vehicles accounted for 11,247 units (49.6%), followed by hybrids with 6,716 units (29.6%), diesel with 2,669 units (11.8%), electric vehicles with 1,093 units (4.8%), and plug-in hybrids with 970 units (4.3%).

By purchase type, out of the 22,695 units, individual purchases accounted for 13,482 units (59.4%) and corporate purchases for 9,213 units (40.6%). Among individual purchases, the highest registrations by region were in Gyeonggi with 4,256 units (31.6%), followed by Seoul with 3,831 units (21.0%) and Busan with 852 units (6.3%). For corporate purchases, Incheon led with 3,170 units (34.4%), followed by Busan with 2,098 units (22.8%) and Daegu with 1,304 units (14.2%).

The best-selling models in June were the Mercedes-Benz E 350 4MATIC (1,010 units), BMW X3 2.0 (610 units), and Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI (534 units).

Im Hangyu, Vice Chairman of KAIDA, explained, “The decrease in newly registered imported passenger cars in June was due to a shortage of supply caused by the semiconductor supply shortage.”