BMW retains throne in South Korea’s imported car market

German luxury carmaker BMW claimed the mantle of top imported car brand in South Korea for a second consecutive year in 2024, beating out rival Mercedes-Benz.

BMW sold 73,754 vehicles last year, down 3.8% from 2023, said the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) on Monday. The BMW 5 Series midsize sedan was its most popular line with sales of more than 20,000 units, according to the association.

Mercedes-Benz ranked No. 2 among imported car brands, with sales of 66,400 units in the country.

BMW reclaimed the title as top imported car brand in Korea last year from Mercedes-Benz,the leader from 2016 to 2022.

Tesla Inc., the world’s No. 2 electric vehicle maker, ranked third, followed by Sweden's Volvo and Lexus, the premium brand of Japanese carmaker Toyota Corp.

Total imported car sales dipped 2.9% to 263,288 units in 2024 compared to the year prior on weaker demand amid a slowdown in Asia’s fourth-largest economy and insufficient supply by some foreign automakers, KAIDA said.

BYD’S IMPACT ON TESLA

Tesla sold 29,750 EVs in Korea last year thanks largely to the popularity of its Model Y equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

China's BYD Co., the world’s largest EV maker, is set to debut on the Korean car market this year, which may bite into the US carmaker's sales, industry sources said.

BYD is poised to start selling its passenger EVs this month.

“If BYD makes inroads into the market with cost-effective EVs, it's expected to affect Tesla’s sales,” said an imported car industry source. “Competition among foreign car brands is predicted to intensify.”

Write to Jung-Eu Shin at newyearis@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.