SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's imported car sales rose 9.2 percent year-on-year to 29,817 units in August, fueled by robust demand for EVs and German luxury models, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.
For the first eight months of this year, 244,825 imported vehicles were sold, up 27.2 percent from a year earlier.
U.S. automaker Tesla took the top spot among foreign brands in August, selling 10,400 units. German automaker BMW followed with sales of 6,180 units, and Mercedes-Benz with 4,037. China's BYD secured fourth with 3,002 units, indicating intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers in the South Korean market.
The number of European models sold here was 14,297 last month, taking up 47.9 percent of the total. U.S., Chinese and Japanese brands had shares of 35.7 percent, 10.1 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.
By fuel type, battery-powered EVs accounted for 50.9 percent of the total, followed by hybrids at 40 percent, gasoline vehicles at 8.5 percent and diesel models at 0.6 percent. ■
