'Gangnam Did Gangnam'... Half of Luxury Imported Cars Over 150 Million Won Purchased

Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa Districts Account for 49.3%
Mercedes-Benz 'No.1'

About half of the high-priced imported cars sold in Seoul last year were sold in the Gangnam 3 districts (Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, Songpa-gu).

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on the 11th, among the 41,844 imported cars registered in all 25 districts of Seoul last year, 3,989 were imported cars priced over 150 million KRW. Of these, 1,796 cars, accounting for 45% of the total, were registered in the Gangnam 3 districts.

In 2022, out of 2,692 imported cars priced over 150 million KRW sold in Seoul, 1,326 were registered in the Gangnam 3 districts, making up 49.3%. Although the market share of the Gangnam 3 districts decreased compared to the previous year, the number of registered vehicles increased by 470.

By district, Gangnam-gu ranked first with 916 cars, followed by Seocho-gu (597), Songpa-gu (283), Jung-gu (227), and Yongsan-gu (200). None of the other 16 districts exceeded 200 cars.

The top-tier model of Mercedes-Benz, the S-Class
[Image source: Provided by Mercedes-Benz]

Even when lowering the price criterion for imported cars to between 100 million and 150 million KRW, the ranking remained unchanged. Gangnam-gu was first with 1,140 cars, followed by Seocho-gu (873) and Songpa-gu (645).

By brand, Mercedes-Benz sold the most cars priced over 150 million KRW in Seoul, with 2,101 units.

Porsche (654), Land Rover (452), BMW (384), Bentley (128), and Audi (100) followed. Mercedes-Benz was the only brand to record sales of over 1,000 units in Seoul within this price range.

However, nationwide, the growth of imported car sales in Seoul appears to be slowing. The region with the highest number of imported car purchases last year was Gyeonggi-do (58,320 units), followed by Incheon (44,719 units). Imported car sales in Seoul were 41,865 units, not much different from Busan (35,235 units).

Additionally, imported car sales last month dropped by nearly 20% compared to the same period last year, marking the lowest January sales in 11 years. This decline is attributed to the prolonged high interest rates and high inflation.