Sales of imported light passenger vehicles in South Korea increased by over 23% to 29,357 units in November 2025, up from 23,784 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA).
The import segment continued to significantly outperform the domestic market last month, driven by strong sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). By contrast, domestic deliveries by the country’s five main automakers combined declined by over 6% to 115,933 units last month, while their year-to-date sales increased by just 1.5% to 1,255,847 units.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
In the first eleven months of 2025, import sales increased by over 16% to 278,769 units, up from 239,764 units a year earlier, with German-owned brands accounting for 59% of this total with 163,348 deliveries.
BMW continues to lead the import market with sales rising by 5% to 70,541 units year-to-date, while sales by its Mini subsidiary increased by 4% to 7,180 units. Together, the two brands accounted for almost 28% of total import sales. Mercedes-Benz sales increased by just over 1% to 60,260 units, while Volkswagen Group reported a 4% rise to 24,882 units, thanks mainly to strong performances by Porsche and Audi.
US EV maker Tesla saw its sales surge by 95% to 55,594 units year-to-date, helped by the recent launch of its new lower-cost Model Y, while Volvo’s deliveries declined by 2% to 13,388 units. Toyota’s eleven-month sales were 2% higher at 8,751 units, while its Lexus division enjoyed an 8% rise to 13,894 units.
Chinese automaker BYD, which officially entered the market earlier this year, has delivered 4,955 vehicles to-date and plans to have 30 sales outlets in operation by the end of the year, while Geely’s Zeekr is also preparing to enter the market.
