Foreign car sales in South Korea up 32.3%

Imported vehicles sales rose 32.2% in South Korea in the month of August compared to the same month in 2012, a Yonhap report said Wednesday citing a trade association data. A total of 13,977 units of foreign-brand cars were sold in August, compared with 10,576 vehicles sold in 2012, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. The figure represents a 6.5% drop from July when foreign carmakers sold a total of 14,953 units, according to the data. In the first eight months of 2013, a total of 103,417 foreign vehicles were sold in the country, up 23.7% from the 83,583 units sold in the cited period a year earlier, the association said. South Korean buyers favoured German brands with BMW topping the list with 3,405 units sold last month. Volkswagen was next  with 2,493 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 1,929 and Audi with 1,857, according to the association. The domestic sales by five automakers in South Korea, including Hyundai Motor Co., reached 110,338 units last month, up 29% from 85,543 units a year ago.