In brief
In Seoul, South Korean officials reported a 29.3% rise in imported passenger‑car registrations to 31,117 units in October. Electric vehicles topped the market, accounting for 46.4% of sales, while German luxury brands dominated foreign‑maker sales. The first nine months of 2026 saw a 24.6% increase in total imports compared with the same period a year earlier.
In Seoul, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association announced that 31,117 imported passenger‑car registrations were recorded in October, marking a 29.3 percent increase over the same month in 2025. The data, released on Wednesday and sourced from Xinhua, pointed to a sharp rise in demand for battery‑electric vehicles and German luxury models.
The month’s sales tally includes 9,165 units of the U.S. electric‑vehicle manufacturer Tesla, making it the leading foreign brand in the country. German automakers followed closely: Mercedes‑Benz sold 6,744 units, BMW moved 5,633 cars, and Volvo supplied 1,682 units. Chinese automaker BYD added 1,594 vehicles to the total.
Across all foreign-made cars, European models accounted for 17,573 units, representing 56.5 percent of the total imported vehicles. The U.S., Japanese and Chinese brands collectively held 30.0, 8.0 and 5.5 percent of the market share, respectively.
When sales were broken down by fuel technology, the data highlighted a near‑balance between battery‑powered electric vehicles and hybrids: 46.4 percent were EVs and 45.9 percent were hybrids. Traditional gasoline models made up only 6.8 percent of the September cohort, while diesel vehicles comprised a modest 0.9 percent.
Looking beyond October, the association reported that during the first nine months of 2026, 310,846 imported vehicles were sold—an annual rise of 24.6 percent compared with the same period in 2025. The figure highlights the sustained growth pace for foreign automakers in South Korea's increasingly competitive market.
According to the association, the 29.3 percent jump in October was largely driven by a surge in interest for electric vehicles. In addition to the rising popularity of EVs, the import numbers for German luxury models grew, reinforcing their premium positioning in South Korea’s consumer market.
