Foreign-brand car inventories hit record high in 2014

Inventories held by foreign car brands in South Korea hit an all-time high in 2014 as they apparently sought to meet fast-growing demand, industry data showed Thursday.
  

Foreign brands were estimated to hold a combined 62,980 vehicles in their warehouses last year, compared with around 8,000 units tallied in 2011, according to the data by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
  

Foreign carmakers brought in 259,339 units last year, of which 196,359 vehicles were sold. The remainder were placed in their inventories.
  

Last year's inventory ratio stood at 24.3 percent, much higher than 6.9 percent in 2011.  
  

The rising inventories came amid their intensifying efforts to strengthen market presence in South Korea, where demand for imported cars has been growing.
  

Brisk sales of foreign vehicles continued into 2015.
  

During the first quarter of the year, cumulative foreign car registration came to 58,969 units, up 32.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.
  

Experts say it is inevitable that foreign brands will be more aggressive in securing sufficient inventory since it takes months to bring in cars from their overseas plants, a delay that could undermine their sales strategy.
  

BMW Korea, a local unit of BMW, earlier blamed the relatively weak car sales in January for lack of inventories, with its CEO saying there were not enough cars to sell. (Yonhap)