Best-selling foreign cars either cheap or expensive: report

The best-selling imported cars in South Korea so far this year were either very affordable or incredibly expensive, data showed Wednesday.

According to data compiled by Korea Automobiles and Distributors Association, the number of foreign vehicles sold for under 30 million won surged 81 percent in the first four months to 2,960 units. The increase in the lowest price bracket was largely contributed by Nissan’s Altima, the carmaker’s sedan released at 29.9 million won in last April, and Juke, a crossover utility vehicle. Nissan sold 789 units of the All New Altima 2.5 SL, and 217 units of the Juke this year alone.

The number of imported cars priced more than 100 million won also increased 41 percent to 8,167 units in the same period. German carmakers Mercedez-Benz and BMW have led the sales growth. Mercedez-Benz sold 972 units of its luxury sedan S-class 350, priced more than 141 million won here and also 925 units of GLE 350d, an SUV. The carmaker sold 489 units of the long-bodied S500 sedan, priced at around 200 million won.

BMW also led the growth in the upper price category, with the carmaker selling a total of 664 units of its luxury SUV, X6 30d, priced 101 million won, and 354 units of 730Ld xDrive, a diesel-powered large sedan.

Sales of cars in the price range between 100 million and 150 million won surged 68 percent to 5,532 units. A total of 2,635 priced more than 150 million won also grew 5.6 percent.

Meanwhile, sales of foreign cars priced between 30 million and 40 million dropped 40.6 percent from 16,316 units to 9,696. Those priced between 50 million and 70 million won declined 3 percent.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)