Koreans have not lost their taste for imported cars in the coronavirus epidemic, especially at the luxury end, with imports setting a new record last year.
The four best-selling imported car brands last year were German. Mercedes-Benz sold 76,879 cars, BMW 58,393, Audi 25,513 and Volkswagen 17,615.
Audi and Volkswagen recorded almost zero sales in 2017 in the wake of an emissions-rigging scandal, but they have since clawed back a good chunk of their market share. Sweden's Volvo came fifth with 12,798 cars.
Overall 270,859 imported cars were sold here last year, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier and an all-time high.
Much of the success was due to shiny new models being launched here as well as tax breaks. In the second half in particular, buyers of luxury imported cars worth over W70 million benefited from tax breaks after a limit of W1 million was lifted (US$1=W1,092).
The passenger car market boomed in lockdown as many commuters tried to avoid public transport, while other buyers became rich because real estate values soared.
