Eco-friendly cars account for 81% of new imported car sales in April
A BMW new 530e car is seen in this undated picture provided by BMW Korea.
The number of imported vehicles sold in South Korea last month dropped slightly from a year earlier, but eco-friendly vehicles such as hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for a record 81 percent of the total, industry data showed Thursday.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA), a total of 21,495 imported cars were newly registered in April, down 0.3 percent from a year ago.
KAIDA attributed the decrease to price hikes and inventory shortages for certain brands.
By brand, BMW retained the top spot with 6,710 units sold, followed by Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and Lexus, with 4,908, 1,447 and 1,353 units, respectively.
In terms of fuel type, hybrid vehicles led the sales, accounting for 63.7 percent, followed by EVs and gasoline models, at 17.3 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively. Diesel models accounted for 1.9 percent of total imports.
By individual model line, Mercedes-Benz's E-Class topped the sales chart with 2,151 units, followed by BMW's 5 Series and Tesla's Model Y, with 2,040 units and 804 units, respectively.