Imported car sales in South Korea fell 6.1 percent in 2019 from a year earlier as Japanese brands were affected by a boycott amid trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, an industry association said. 

The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 244,780 last year from the previous year’s 260,705, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association. 

Japanese carmakers such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor saw their sales plunge 19 percent to 36,661 vehicles from 45,253 over the cited period. Local consumers shunned Japanese vehicles in response to Japan’s restrictions on exports of key materials to Korea. (Yonhap)