1 in 3 new import cars priced over W100m

Nearly 1 in 3 import cars sold last year was priced at 100 million won ($75,000) or over, with their sales hitting a record high despite a slight downturn in the import car market overall.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association on Friday, 78,208 vehicles priced at over 100 million won were sold here last year, an 8.8 percent jump from a year prior. During the same period, the overall import car market suffered a 4.4 percent drop, selling 271,344 vehicles all told.

Mercedes-Benz led the high-end segment with sales of 32,789 vehicles, followed by BMW with 22,890 and Porsche at 11,355. Porsche crossed the threshold of 10,000 sales here for the first time in 2023, indicating particularly robust demand for luxury sports cars.

Other leading brands in this high-priced category included Land Rover, with 4,334 sales, and Audi, which sold 2,932 vehicles priced over 100 million won.

Corporate buyers played a substantial role in this market segment, accounting for 65.3 percent of these high-end vehicle sales, which translates to 51,083 vehicles.