BMW Accounts for 20% of Imported Cars
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
What is the most commonly driven foreign car in South Korea? Look on the roads for a while and you will find one in every five imported cars with the famous BMW logo on it.
As of May, the number of foreign-made cars registered here reached 227,935 and 45,864 of them, or some 20.1 percent, are BMWs, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) Wednesday.
Mercedes-Benz came second with 35,634 cars (15.6 percent), followed by Toyota with 32,621 including Lexus (14.3 percent), Chrysler with 19,369 (8.5 percent), Ford with 16,466 (7.2 percent) and Audi with 14,153 (6.2 percent). Honda, Volvo and Volkswagen came next with more than 10,000 vehicles each.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz have taken the top and second places largely because they advanced into the local market earlier than others -- both began selling their cars in South Korea in early 1987.
In the recent three years, however, Toyota sold the largest number of cars, although BMW and Mercedes-Benz also showed good performances in the period.
In the meantime, small-size cars made by foreign companies such as My B from Mercedes and MINI Cooper from BMW have been selling well recently in stark contrast to home-made small cars. Sales of My B and MINI Cooper exceeded 100 vehicles in May alone.
Foreign automakers occupy nearly 5 percent of the South Korean car market, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA).