Imported commercial vehicles drops in July

A total of 378 imported commercial vehicles, mostly trucks, were sold in South Korea last month, down 11.1 percent from the previous month, industry data showed Thursday.

According to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, Volvo topped the list with a total of 137 trucks sold, followed by 105 vehicles from MAN, 83 from Scania, 40 from Mercedes-Benz and 13 from Iveco.

By type, bodybuilders accounted for 180 vehicles, followed by 131 tractors, 62 cargo trucks and five buses, the association said.

The association started to compile the sales of imported commercial trucks, which exclude dump trucks, this year.

The foreign commercial truck importers include Daimler Trucks Korea, MAN Truck & Bus Korea, Volvo Trucks Korea, Scania Korea Seoul and CNH.

Earlier data showed that a total of 7,726 imported trucks were sold here in 2016, up 75.8 percent from 4,396 units in the previous year.

The number of foreign truck sales in South Korea stayed around the 2,000-unit level between 2009 and 2013 before rising steadily in the following years due to the implementation of free trade deals with the United States and the European Union. The figure had climbed from 2,395 units in 2013 to 3,930 units in 2014 and 4,396 units in 2015.

Market leader Volvo Trucks Korea reported that it sold a record 2,600 trucks in the local market last year. (Yonhap)