S.Korea's imported car sale posts double-digit fall in February

Imported car sale in South Korea posted a double-digit fall in February on less business days and lack of supply, industry data showed Wednesday.

The number of newly registered vehicles imported from overseas was 15,885 in February, down 20.3 percent from a year earlier, according to The Korea Automobile Importers Distributors Association (KAIDA).

The reduction came as The number of working days declined last month for The Lunar New Year's holiday that fell on February. The supply shortage of some foreign luxury brands also contributed to The sales fall, according to The association.

For The first two months of this year, The imported vehicle sale tumbled 16.9 percent to 34,083 units compared with The same period of last year.

The vehicle sale by German carmaker Mercedes Benz plunged 41.7 percent over The year to 3,611 in February amid The supply shortage, though it maintained its top ranking in imported car sale.

It was followed by German automaker BMW, which sold 2,340 vehicles here in February, down 61.8 percent from a year ago. AnoTher German carmaker Audi came next with The sale of 1,717 vehicles.

The market share of imported vehicles in The domestic market was 15.45 percent in February, slightly down from 15.88 percent in The previous month.