Foreign car sales jump nearly 50 percent

By Kim Tae-gyu

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group is feeling the pressure as its dominance in the local car market continues to be diluted by major foreign carmakers, which chalked up record performances last year.

The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) announced on Wednesday that a total of 24 overseas brands combined to sell 90,562 vehicles here last year, up 48.5 percent from 2009.

German automakers ruled as perennial market leader BMW managed to keep its place ahead of the rest by selling 16,798 vehicles, closely trailed by Mercedes Benz with 16,115 and Volkswagen with 10,154.

These figures fell far short of business bellwether Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group that accounted for around four fifths of the annual demand. Its dual flagships of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold more than 1.1 million units together in the local market last year.

In consideration of the fact that no foreign brands have ever topped the 10,000 mark per year until 2009, however, market observers point out that last year’s sales would be very encouraging for overseas manufacturers.

``The foreign brands outgrew the overall markets last year, which were by and large stagnant compared to 2009. The trend is expected to continue for the time being as motorists with purchasing power tend to turn to fancy foreign cars,’’ a Seoul analyst said.

Traditional powerhouses such as Audi and Honda also racked up annual gains of 18.8 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively. But they relatively languished to watch their market share among overseas makers get eaten up by competitors.

Out of the major players, only the two failed to reach the 20-percent plateau in year-on-year growth rates in 2010 excluding Lexus, a sub-brand of Toyota that struggled to find its feet throughout last year due to brake-pedal problems and the resulting massive recalls.

On top of Lexus, sales of three others headed south ― Bentley, Volvo and Chrysler.

The best-selling car was the Mercedes-Benz E300 whose sales amounted to 6,228 followed by the BMW 528 with 5,130 and Toyota’s Camry with 4,241.

Of note were the strong sales of super-premium brands such as Maybach and Rolls-Royce. The former more than doubled its sales from four in 2009 to nine last year while the latter jacked up sales nine fold from two to 18 during the same period.

외제차, 거리를 점령하다?

과거 외제차는 부유 상징이었고 그만큼 범죄의 대상이 되기도 했다. 웬만한 재력이 없이는 그만큼 소유하기 힘들었기 때문이다. 하지만 지난 10년간 완전히 상황이 달라졌다.

5일 한국수입자동차협회에 따르면 지난 한해 수입차 신규등록 대수가 90,562대로 년간 최대치를 기록했던 2009년 60,933대 보다 48.5%나 증가했다. 국내 전체 수요가 큰 변동이 없었던 것을 감안하면 엄청난 증가세다.

2010년 연간 브랜드별 등록대수는 BMW가 16,798대로 선두를 따랐고 메르세데스-벤츠가 16,115대, 폭스바겐이 10.154대로 뒤를 이었다. 현대차와 기아차가 작년 국내에서 110만대를 판매한 것에 비하면 아직 미미하지만 2009년까지 단일 브랜드로 연간 10,000를 기록한 적이 없다는 점을 감안하면 훌륭한 실적이다.

반면 혼다와 아우디는 성장세가 저조했다. 양사 모두 20%가까운 성장을 보였지만 외제차 시장 전체가 50%가까이 성장한 터라 양사의 시장 점유률은 하락세를 면치 못했다.

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