Sales of imported light passenger vehicles in South Korea jumped by over 47% to 30,072 in December 2019 from 20,450 units in the same month of the previous year, according to member data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.
German brands combined continued to outperform with sales jumping by 60% to 19,047 units last month from 11,312 a year earlier thanks in large part to strong rebounds by Volkswagen, Audi and BMW.
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Japanese brands continued to suffer from a broad based consumer boycott after the two countries fell out earlier in the year over trade restrictions imposed by Japan and demands for Japan to provide further compensation to South Korean World War II victims. Combined sales of Japanese brands fell by over 20% to 3,670 units last month and by 19% to 36,661 units over the full year.
Overall import sales declined by 6.1% to 244,780 units in 2019 from 260,705 units previously with the segment's overall performance also affected by a major recall by BMW following a series of well publicised engine fires in 2018.
The leading import brand, Mercedes-Benz, reported a 10.4% sales increase to 78,133 units last year while BMW sales were 12.5% lower at 44,191 units; Lexus 12,241 units (-8.2%); Audi 11,930 (-4.2%); Toyota 10,611 units (-36.7%); Volvo 10,570 units (+24.0%); Fiat-Chrysler 10,251 units (+35.1%); Mini 10,222 units (+11.2%); and Honda 8,760 units (+10.1%).
Toyota this week said it was looking for a sales rebound this year helped by the launch of four new models in the first half, including the GR Supra sports car later this month, the Camry XSE sports variant in February and the new all wheel drive Prius and Prius C Crossover hybrid models in March.
Volvo Cars Korea said it was targeting 12,000 sales in 2020 on strong demand for its SUVs, a more than 13% rise on last year's volume.
Fiat Chrysler is also looking for double digit growth this year after record sales in 2019 with plans to further strengthen its SUV line with the launch of the Gladiator in the second half of the year.
Overall imports, including all types of commercial vehicles, were estimated to have accounted for 13.7% of total vehicle sales in South Korea last year.
