Seoul, Nov 5 (IANS) Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 13.2 per cent in October from a year earlier, helped by solid demand for Tesla and German vehicle models, industry data showed on Wednesday.

The number of newly registered imported cars reached 24,064 units last month, up from 21,249 a year ago, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), reports Yonhap news agency.

The three bestselling models were the Tesla Model Y, BMW 520 sedan and Mercedes-Benz E200 sedan, the data showed.

Sales of Tesla vehicles, in particular, more than tripled to 4,350 units last month from 1,263 a year earlier.

By fuel type, hybrid vehicles accounted for 59.8 per cent of monthly sales with 14,389 units, followed by electric vehicles (EVs) at 28.8 per cent, gasoline models at 10.9 per cent and diesel cars 0.6 per cent.

From January to October, imported vehicle sales climbed 15.5 per cent to 249,412 units from 215,980 a year earlier.

Three German automakers — Volkswagen Group Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 140,670 vehicles in the first 10 months, up 3.5 per cent from 135,933 units over the same period alst year.

German brands accounted for six out of every 10 imported vehicles sold in South Korea during the 10-month period.

Meanwhile, sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 22.6 per cent in August from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for newly launched models, earlier industry data showed.

The number of newly registered imported cars reached 27,304 units last month, up from 22,263 the same month last year, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said.

KAIDA said the monthly result was boosted by robust sales of new models such as the Tesla Model Y and Model 3.

The three bestselling models in August were Tesla’s Model Y, the Model Y Long Range and the Model 3, the data showed.

–IANS

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