Imported cars cruise without brakes in Korea

Imported car sales have broken a new record, selling 94,263 units in the first half of this year. At this rate, there is the likelihood of imported car sales surpassing 200,000 units this year. The best-selling model in the first half was the BMW 520d.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on Friday, the number of imported cars sold in Korea for the first six years increased by 26.5 percent year-on-year. By model, the BMW 520d sold 3,863 units, keeping its spot at the top. The Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI Bluemotion went up by one place to place second, while the Mercedes Benz E220 CDI went up two notches to rank third.

Last year’s fourth-place model Toyota Camry was pushed out of the top 10, with the top 10 spots taken up by German cars with the exception of Lexus ES300h in eighth place.

Aside from that, the popularity of the diesel engine Q50 drove up sales of Infiniti from 433 units in the first half of 2013 to 1,359 units in the first half of 2014. Owing to the popularity of the Flying Spur, Bentley sales jumped from 60 units to 164 units in the same period of time.