Sales of imported light passenger vehicles in South Korea rose by 7.5% to 27,436 units in November 2020 from 25,514 units in the same month of last year, according to member data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA).
In the first 11 months of 2020, sales of imported light passenger vehicles increased by over 13% to 243,440 units compared with 214,708 in the same period of last year. German brands continued to dominate this segment, with combined sales rising by over 28% to 164,349 units to account for over two-thirds of total imports.
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Mercedes-Benz remained the leading import brand, albeit with sales falling by 3.4% to 67,333 units year to date, with the company moving to strengthen its line-up in the fourth quarter with the launch of three new SUV models – the GLB, GLA and GLE coupe.
BMW reported a 35% sales rise to 52,644 units in the 11-month period, as the company continued to rebound strongly from a damaging recall campaign in 2018, while Porsche sales were up by over 86% at 7,082 units.
Volkswagen has also made good progress in rebuilding its market presence following its earlier emissions cover up scandal, with sales surging by 161% to 14,886 units year to date, while Audi sales jumped by 133% to 22,404 units. The brands' local distributor Audi Volkswagen Korea Group earlier this month said it plans to launch eight new all electric models in South Korea by 2023 to help fulfill growing local demand for zero emission vehicles.
The company last month said it was planning to launch the face-lifted Volkswagen Passat GT in December, followed by the T-Roc compact SUV in February 2021 and the redesigned Golf later in 2021. This was to be followed by the Teramont SUV and the all electric ID.4 SUV in 2022.
Japanese brands continued to suffer from a broad based consumer boycott after a diplomatic spat broke out between the two countries last year.
Combined Japanese sales fell by almost 45% to 18,250 units year to date with Lexus sales falling by almost 34% to 7,572 units. Nissan is scheduled to withdraw from this market by the end of this year due to the adverse sentiment.
