Imports to Korea are few, but stand out in a sea of Hyundai, Kia, and GM Daewoo. More significant, the import are signs of status and cultural capital. Actually, they only recently topped 4.5% of the Korean market.
Chosun Ilbo notes...
Competition between foreign carmakers to win over local consumers is becoming fiercer, with JapanÂ’s Toyota and Germany's BMW pitted against each other in the battle for the lead in the import car market. Volkswagen, too, is aggressively trying to enlarge its market share.
The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said Monday that Toyota sold 650 cars here to take the biggest market share of 17.77 percent last month, followed by BMW, which sold 492. The Japanese carmakerÂ’s flagship model Lexus ES350 sold 410 units in May, far outpacing its rivalÂ’s hit models BMW 523 (161 units) and BMW 320 (134 units). That propelled Toyota to the top for the entire January-to-May period, with sales of 2,614 units over BMW's 2,570. Volkswagen ranked fourth with a market share of 12.28 percent, selling 449 cars last month.
In total, 3,657 imported cars were sold last month, KAIDA reported. The growing popularity of imported cars has boosted their combined market share to 4.8 percent, topping 4.5 percent for the first time.
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