Following last year, imports of high-priced imported cars of 100 million won or more continued to run from the beginning of the year this year, and among them, the proportion of corporate cars reached 66%.



According to the Korea Imported Automobile Association, the number of high-priced imported cars with more than 100 million won sold in January and February this year was 8,257 units, an increase of 69.2% compared to the same period last year (4,880 units).



Among them, imported cars with more than 150 million won were 1,850 units, an increase of 47.2% from last year (1,257 units).



Among the high-priced Imports, the most sold model this year was Mercedes-Benz's GLE 400 d 4MATIC Coupe (701 units).



Mercedes' AMG G 63 (585 units) and CLS 450 4MATIC (485 units) followed.



By brand, BMW (2,700 units) was the most, followed by Mercedes (2,653 units), Porsche (1,499 units), Audi (600 units), and Volvo (257 units).



Supercar brands Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley, with most models of more than 300 million won, also saw a significant increase in sales from the beginning of the year.



Lamborghini sold 50 units until last month, an increase of 38.9% over the same period last year, and Rolls-Royce increased 70.8% with 41 units.



Bentley sells 35 units, an increase of 20.7% over last year.



As the popularity of imported cars has recently progressed, the sales of high-priced models are also showing a marked growth trend.



Imports of over 100 million won last year recorded 43,158 units, an increase of 48.8% from the previous year, exceeding 30,000 units per year for the first time.



Dr. Lee Ho-geun of Daedeok University, a professor at the Department of Automobiles at Daedeok University, said, "Because there are no products with the marketability or price range of premium models among domestic cars, the demand for luxury cars is focused on imported cars." .



However, it was found that the purchase rate of corporate names among imported cars of 100 million won or more was still high.



Of the imported cars over 100 million won sold until last month, imported cars under the corporate name accounted for 65.8% with a total of 5432 units.



Two out of three high-priced imported cars were corporate cars.



In the case of Lamborghini, 43 (86%) of the 50 units sold this year were in the corporate name, and among them, Urus (35 units) was the most.



Only 5 out of 41 for Rolls-Royce and 11 out of 35 for Bentley were personal purchases.



Last year, the proportion of corporate cars in the sales of imported cars over 100 million won reached 69.3% (29,913 units).



The practice of purchasing imported cars under the corporate name is constantly being pointed out as a problem, such as the family members of the owners who used privately after purchasing expensive imported cars with their new money last year were caught by the National Tax Service.



(Photo = Courtesy of Lamborghini Seoul, Yonhap News)