Imported car sales in South Korea jumped 30.4 percent in March compared with the same period a year ago, helped by more aggressive marketing efforts, a local trade association said Friday.

A total of 15,733 new foreign-made cars were sold in the one-month period, compared with 12,063 units a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said.

Annual foreign car sales hit a record high of 156,497 units in 2013. The latest tally showed a 13.6 percent increase in car sales vis-a-vis February when foreign original car equipment manufacturers sold 13,852 units.

“The arrival of some new models and aggressive promotional campaigns helped buoy sales,” KAIDA executive manager Yoon Dae-sung said.

For the first quarter, the association said 44,434 imported vehicles were sold, up 27.1 percent on-year.

The domestic market share of imported cars stood at 11.5 percent last month, down from 12.9 percent in February.

German luxury brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi ranked in the top three in terms of sales, followed by Volkswagen and Ford. Japanese carmakers such as Lexus and Toyota came in sixth and seventh, respectively, with Honda ranking No. 10, KAIDA said.

BMW sold 3,511 vehicles overall, with sales of Mercedes-Benz and Audi reaching 2,532 and 2,457 units, respectively. Volkswagen sold 2,255 cars and Ford 792 units.

European cars accounted for 79.5 percent of total sales last month, followed by 12.6 percent by Japanese cars and 7.8 percent by U.S. brands.

By engine size, 53 percent of all foreign cars bought by local consumers had engines smaller than 2,000 cubic centimeters, with those ranging between 2,000 cc and 3,000 cc making up 33.9 percent of the total. (Yonhap)