Sales of imported cars in South Korea jumped 22.4 percent on-year in November, accounting for more than one-tenth of overall auto sales in the country, data showed Thursday.

The monthly sales figure of imported cars came to 16,959 units last month, up from the 13,853 units sold a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers Distributors Association. The tally also represents an on-month rise of 3.2 percent.

“November sales of imported cars increased on-month thanks to the new models launched by some of the overseas carmakers as well as their moves to reduce inventories,” said Yoon Dae-sung, KAIDA’s executive manager.

The total accounts for 14 percent of the 120,833 new cars sold in the country last month, which includes cars sold by the five local carmakers as well as the imported brands.

Cumulative sales in the first 11 months of the year stood at 179,239 units, up a solid 24.4 percent from the 144,092 registered in the same period last year, according to the data.

German luxury brand BMW ranked on top, having sold more than a fifth of all import cars sold here this month, and was followed by Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Mini, an automotive brand under BMW Group.

Japanese carmakers Toyota and Lexus were sixth and seventh, respectively, and the United States’ Ford and Chrysler-Jeep, and British SUV maker Land Rover also made it into the top 10. Ford’s tally includes the sales of Lincoln, the carmaker’s luxury division.

European cars continued to enjoy popularity in South Korea, accounting for 80 percent of total sales last month, followed by 12.6 percent for Japanese cars and 7.4 percent for U.S. models.

Based on type of engine, 68.2 percent of the imported cars sold were diesel powertrains, with gasoline trailing at 26.9 percent.

Hybrids and electric cars took up the remainder at 4.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

More than half, or 58.3 percent, had engine displacements of less than 2,000 cubic centimeters, with those ranging between 2,000 cc and 3,000 cc accounting for 32.2 percent.

The best-selling model of the month was the Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI BlueMotion with 690 units sold. It was followed by the Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDI and the BMW 520d. All three are diesel-powered vehicles.

Private buyers accounted for 60.7 percent of the imported car sales, or 10,293 units, with the rest being bought by companies for fleet cars, according to KAIDA data. (Yonhap)