SEOUL: Sales of imported cars in South Korea slipped 0.4 percent from a year earlier in October due to declining inventories, industry data showed Tuesday. The number of newly registered imported cars came to 21,249 units last month, down slightly from 21,329 units a year ago.According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) attributed the decline to the low inventory of 2024 models and supply shortages for some vehicles. Despite the overall drop, Mercedes-Benz maintained its position as the most popular brand last month, selling 6,427 units. BMW followed closely, with 6,113 units sold. Lexus, Tesla, and Volvo rounded out the top five, with sales of 1,283, 1,263, and 1,161 units, respectively.In terms of fuel types, imported hybrid registrations demonstrated significant growth, soaring 63.7 percent on-year to 11,620 units in October. This accounted for 54.7 percent of all imported car sales, while gasoline, electric, and plug-in hybrid models followed at 23.3 percent, 14.9 percent, and 4.1 percent, respectively.Per individual model performance, Mercedes-Benz's E200 emerged as the bestselling model, selling 1,038 units. It was followed by BMW's 520 and Tesla's Model Y, which sold 1,031 and 951 units, respectively.
- October 12, 2026
