SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Foreign luxury car sales in South Korea posted a double-digit increase last month thanks to solid demand for German brands, industry data showed Wednesday.
The number of imported automobiles sold in the domestic market was 17,547 in August, up 10.1 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA).
From a month earlier, the foreign car sales inched down 0.5 percent due to supply shortage in some models during the summer vacation season.
The double-digit growth on a yearly basis was attributed to strong demand for cars made by German carmakers.
German automaker Mercedes Benz sold 5,267 vehicles here last month, keeping the top post for the third straight month.
It was trailed by German luxury brand BMW with the sales of 4,105 vehicles. Japanese carmaker Toyota came next by selling 1,120 cars.
The best-selling car in August was BMW's 520d, of which sales reached 921 units. It was followed by Lexus' ES300h with the sales of 733 vehicles.
The number of diesel-powered foreign vehicles sold here stood at 8,559 in August, accounting for 48.8 percent of the total. The gasoline-powered and hybrid models took up 39 percent and 12.2 percent respectively.
