Imported commercial car sales fall 2.6 pct in Oct.

SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea fell 2.6 percent last month from a year earlier as demand remained weak amid a slowing economy, an industry association said Friday.

The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles fell to 334 units in October from 343 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement.

In the January-October period, imported commercial car sales plunged 14 percent to 3,212 units from 3,712 during the same period of last year, it said.

The monthly sales data do not include figures for dump trucks, as KAIDA only began to add those numbers to its commercial vehicle sales tally in January.

Imported commercial vehicles currently account for a large percentage of the domestic commercial vehicle market, but their exact market share has not been released.

Five major imported commercial vehicle brands -- MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Trucks, Scania and Iveco -- sell trucks, buses and vans.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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