Massive drop in imported car sales

Imported car sales in South Korea posted a double-digit fall in the first month of this year, industry data showed on Friday. The number of imported vehicles sold here was 18,198 in January, down 13.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. It was attributed to weak seasonality and a lack of supply of some foreign luxury brands. German carmaker Mercedes-Benz ranked first in terms of vehicle sales, with 5,796 units sold here in January. It was down 22.8 percent compared with the same month of last year. BMW came in second place by selling 2,726 vehicles last month, but it was down 49.6 percent from a year ago.