Foreign cars are on a roll in South Korea whereas domestic names suffer on their home turf amid stagnant economy and income.

According to data released by the Korea Automobile Import & Distributors Association on Wednesday, a total of 240,255 import cars were sold in Korea from January to November this year, up 13 percent from a year earlier. In the same period, sales by five finished car makers from Korea fell 0.8 percent on year to 1,406,680.

In November alone, the number of newly registered vehicles rose 7.6 percent on month to 22,387.

In November, Mercedes-Benz sold 7,208 cars, keeping its lead among major foreign brands. It was followed by BMW with 2,476 units, Volkswagen with 1,988 units, Lexus with 1,945 units, Toyota with 1,928 units, Honda with 961 units, Ford with 854 units, Volvo with 731 units, Chrysler with 714 units, and Land Rover with 644 units.

The top best-selling model was Mercedes-Benz’s E 300 with sales totaling 1,447 units. The German brand’s CLS 400 d 4MATIC became the second best-selling model after 1,429 units was sold last month, followed by Lexus’s ES300h with 1,427 units.

European brands took the largest share of 68 percent in the Korean import car market after selling 15,214 units, and Japanese brands and U.S. brands followed with 24.1 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively.

Gasoline-fueled cars were sold 9,557 units, accounting for 42.7 percent in the market, diesel-fueled cars 7,693 units with a 34.4 percent share, hybrid vehicles 5,130 units with a 22.9 percent share, and electric vehicles 7 units.

By Yong Hwan-jin and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]