Foreign-brand vehicles registered in S. Korea exceed 1 million

The number of imported vehicles registered in South Korea has surpassed the one million mark, an industry source said on Monday. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), foreign-brand automobiles registered totaled 1,041,751 units as of the end of August. The figure accounted for 5.23 percent of the total 19,899,254 vehicles registered across the country.

Cumulative sales of imported vehicles totaled 112,375 units in the first seven months of this year, up 25.6 percent from 89,440 vehicles tallied during the same period last year, the KAMA said. KAMA officials forecast that yearly sales of foreign-made automobiles will exceed 200,000 units for the first time in 2014.

Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI Blue Motion emerged as the best-selling imported model in the January-July period, with 4,581 units sold, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. BMW520d lost its crown as the best-selling foreign car model in the local market for the first time in two years, with sales of 4,413 units during the period.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com