'Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi 3 High Speed...In July alone, it increased by 38 per cent.'

Sales of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi German premium imported car brands rose 38.2 percent in July compared to the same period last year. The imported car market is growing thanks to strong performance by the three German companies.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

According to the Korea Automobile Association (KAIDA) on the 4th, the number of new imported cars registered in July was 24,389, up 23.3 percent from the same period last year (19,778). The cumulative number from January to July stood at 172,146, up 16.3 percent from the same period last year (148,014).

By brand, Benz has topped the list with 7083 units for the seventh straight month of this year. BMW and Audi made the top 3 imported cars with 60 to 22 and Audi with 2,632 cars. Compared to the same period last year, sales of the three German companies increased 38.2 percent. Benz rose 35.8 percent, BMW 57.8 percent, and Audi 12.0 percents.

BMW 5 Series

Volvo 1153, Lexus 1,027, Jeep 1003, Volkswagen 941 units, MINI 870 units, Chevrolet 755, Porsche 699 units and Toyota 691. Tesla, which was excluded from the KAIDA tally, only registered 22 units due to lack of supplie.

Last month, three German companies also took the best-selling model of imported cars. The No. 1 Mercedes-Benz E-Class recorded 2,567 units, followed by the BMW 5 Series (1598 units), the Benz S-Class (1522 units), and the Audi A6 (1274 units).

Audi A6.

European cars accounted for 82.2 percent of all imported cars with 24,44 units. The number of U.S. cars was 9.4 percent with 2,300 cars and 8.4 percent with 2,045 cars with Japanese cars. U.S. cars fell 0.9 percent year-on-year, but European and Japanese cars increased 26.5 percent and 26.7 percent.

By fuel, 12,142 gasoline (49.8 percent), 7,242 hybrid (29.7 percent), 3,102 diesel (12.7 percent), 1,409 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) (5.8 percent) and 494 electricity (EV) (2.0 percent). While diesel fell 44.6% compared to the same period last year, HEV and PHEV increased 165.4% and 118.1%.