SEOUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Imported car sales in South Korea rose for two straight months on robust demand for German luxury vehicles, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Newly registered foreign vehicles reached 16,212 in February, up 3.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA). It was the second consecutive month of growth, after jumping for the first time in 15 months in January.
Popularity with the models of Mercedes Benz, German car manufacturer, led the continued increase. The carmaker sold 5,534 vehicles here in February, becoming the first popular car model.
Mercedes Benz's market share among foreign automakers ranked first with 34.1 percent in February.
It was trailed by German automaker BMW with 3,202 vehicles sold here last month. Japanese luxury brand Lexus came next with 896 cars sold, followed by Land Rover with 765 units and Toyota with 741 units.
Mercedes Benz' E220d was the best-selling car in February with 998 units sold. It was trailed by E200 of the same company with 829 vehicles and Lexus' ES300h with 617 units.
European models accounted for 75.5 percent of the total imported car sales here last month. Market shares of Japanese and U.S. cars posted 16.7 percent and 7.8 percent respectively.
