Sales of imported cars in South Korea jumped 24.6 percent on-year to a record high last year as foreign brand vehicles have successfully made their presence felt in the country, a trade association said Monday.

A total of 130,858 foreign-made cars were sold in 2012, compared with 105,037 units tallied a year ago, topping the 130,000 mark for the first time, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. Its earlier sales target for last year was 120,000 units.

The sales increase is compared to a 4.2 percent drop in South Korea’s domestic car market last year, with a combined 1.4 million vehicles sold by five local automakers, led by industry leader Hyundai Motor Co.

For December, 10,663 foreign vehicles were sold, up 35.3 percent from 7,879 units a year earlier, KAIDA added.

“South Korea’s imported car business achieved a remarkable growth in 2012 thanks to robust sales of diesel-powered cars, tariff cuts by free trade pacts with the United States and the European Union, and the government-led tax-cut benefits,” said KAIDA in a statement.

The trade pacts with the U.S. and EU, implemented early this year and last year, respectively, were intended to phase out tariffs on cars in three to five years and lower prices of U.S. and Europe-origin products.

Late last year, the Seoul government cut the special consumption tax on automobiles by 3-6 percent in a bid to galvanize weak domestic demand. The tax cut plan was brought to a stop by the end of December.

BMW sold a total of 28,152 units throughout last year to lead the German dominance here in South Korea, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 20,389 units and Volkswagen with 18,395. Audi came in fourth with 15,126 units and Toyota sold 10,795 units to place fifth.

BMW’s 520d was the best-selling model last year, with 7,485 units sold, beating the Toyota Camry with 5,687 and Mercedes-Benz E300 with 5,574.

Volkswagen sold 1,782 units in December alone, topping the monthly sales list for the first time, while Mercedes-Benz came next with 1,246 and BMW was third with 1,236. (Yonhap News)

KAIDA earlier expected sales of foreign-made cars to reach 143,000 units in 2013, up a modest 8 percent from 2012 on the back of additional tariff cuts by the free trade deals and a strong local currency amid persistent economic uncertainties at home and abroad. (Yonhap News)