Registrations of new imported vehicles in South Korea fell by 3.5% to 23,435 units in June, compared with 24,275 units in the same month of last year, according to data released by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA).
This comes in stark contrast to the 29% jump in domestic sales for the month, ahead of the normalisation of the sales tax rate to 5% at the beginning of July.
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Volkswagen brand's sales were particularly weak, with sales falling by close to 58% to 1,834 units last month. The German automaker is still currently under investigation by the South Korean authorities over allegations that it cheated emissions tests.
German brands continued to dominate the domestic market in June, however, with BMW selling 4,820 units; Mercedes-Benz 4,535 units; and Audi 2,812 units. Japanese brands were the next best-sellers, led by Lexus and Toyota with 1,276 and 1,165 sales respectively last month.
In the first half of the year, Volkswagen's sales fell 33.1% to 12,463 units, while Audi's sales were 10.3% lower at 13,058 in this period.
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By GlobalData
