SEOUL: Demand for import cars in South Korea suffered a big drop in July, taking a hit from the end of the government’s tax incentive program and Volkswagen AG’s emissions cheating scandal. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) Thursday, import car sales in July dropped 24 percent to 15,730 units from 20,707 units a year ago. It was also a 32.9 percent fall from June when import car shipments reached 23,435 units. Total sales of import cars in the first seven months of this year tallied 132,479 units, down 5.7 percent from 140,539 from the same period a year ago.
Sales tax benefits that expired in the end of June dealt a blow to the country’s auto market as a whole last month, the industry observers said. Also, early this week, the Ministry of Environment revoked licenses on 83,000 vehicles of Audi Volkswagen Korea for its confirmed irregularities, making nearly seven out of 10 Volkswagen and Audi cars sold in Korea since 2007 illegitimate. Coupled with the tainted brand image from the emissions rigging scandals, the sanction that was applied to 32 types of Audi and Volkswagen cars sold to July 25 has further drove down the sales of the German automaker in Korea. Its Volkswagen brand only sold 425 units in July, and its sales outlook is bleak with the cancellation of licenses on its major models.
By brand, Mercedez-Benz sold the most in the month, as many as 4,184 units, boosted by its new flagship sedan E-Class, while BMW sold 2,638 units, followed by Audi 1,504 units, Ford 1,008 units, Land Rover 847 units, Lexus 741 units, Toyota 677 units, MINI 647, Volvo 453, Honda 412, Chrysler 411, Nissan 382, Peugeot 370, Jaguar 331, and Porsche 308 units.
