[THE INVESTOR] Volkswagen’s July sales in South Korea tumbled by 85.8 percent from a year earlier, as consumers turned away from the German automaker that cheated on emissions and noise level tests, industry data showed on Aug. 4.

According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, only 425 VW cars were sold here in July, a downturn from 2,998 units in the same month last year. The figure is a 76.8 percent decline from June this year. 




With the drop, VW barely made into the top 10 popular imported brands here, accounting for a mere 2.7 percent market share. Last July VW had a market share of 14.48 percent, becoming the third most popular brand after Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

The number of VW vehicles sold in January-July came in at 12,888 units, a 40.4 percent decrease from the same period last year.

Audi and Bentley -- VW Group’s luxury brands that have been caught up in the scandal -- also suffered sales in July.

For Audi, the sales decreased by 42.5 percent on-year, while Bentley was down by 61.9 percent.

The market share of the three scandal-stricken brands halved from 27.22 percent to 12.31 percent over a year period.

Meanwhile, the sales of Mercedes-Benz, No.1 seller here, increased by 5.2 percent on-year in July, while the runner-up BMW suffered loss by 32.8 percent in the same period.

In July, 15,730 imported cars were sold here, down 24 percent from the same month last year.

On Aug. 2, the Ministry of Environment banned 80 vehicle models of Audi, Volkswagen and Bentley cars and revoked their certification over emission-rigging. The government also imposed fines of 17.8 billion won (US$16.05 million) on the German carmaker.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)