BMW Korea appears to be catching up with Mercedes-Benz Korea, the No. 1 importer of automobiles here, with the former topping the list of newly registered cars for two consecutive months in May, industry data showed Wednesday.

Last month, a total of 5,373 units of BMW vehicles were registered here, while Mercedes-Benz Korea, the local importer and distributor of the German automaker, came in second place with 5,063 units, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.

Honda Korea came in third with 1,169 units, followed by Ford Korea, the data showed.

The number of new vehicles registered may differ from sales, as it reflects the accumulated number upon completed delivery.

Although BMW beat Mercedes-Benz for April and May, Benz retained the top spot overall for the first five months of the year.

A total of 29,940 Mercedes-Benz cars were listed here between January and May, making up 31.7 percent of foreign vehicles, KAIDA said. BMW Korea accounted for 24.9 percent with 23,488 units.

With both German premium automakers expanding their presence here, the accumulated sales figure for Mercedes-Benz saw a 50.1 percent boost year-on-year, while the corresponding figure for BMW rose 28.1 percent, according to the KAIDA.

Last year, Mercedes-Benz saw the total registration of 56,343 units, followed by BMW with 48,459 units.

Meanwhile, the total number of imported cars listed was 19,380 units last month, down 3.3 percent compared to April and 0.5 percent less on-year.

“The overall figure for imported auto brands last month decreased compared to April, largely due to product shortage,” KAIDA said in a statement.

The accumulated number of imported vehicles sold this year so far was 94.397 units, a 1.2 percent on-year increase. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)