Seoul, Jan 6 (IANS): Sales of imported cars in South Korea fell for the second straight year in 2024, while hybrid vehicles emerged as the top-selling fuel type for the first time, industry data showed on Monday.

The number of newly registered imported passenger cars in 2024 totalled 263,288 units, down 2.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.

It marked a second consecutive annual decline, following a 4.4 percent on-year drop in 2023, reports Yonhap news agency.

Hybrid was the most popular fuel type, with 134,426 units sold, accounting for 51.1 percent of total registrations to become the top-selling fuel category for the first time.

Gasoline-powered vehicles fell to second place with 62,671 units, or 23.8 percent, followed by electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, accounting for 18.8 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.

BMW retained its position as the top-selling imported brand for the second year in a row, selling 73,754 units, with Mercedes-Benz trailing at 66,400 units. Tesla, Volvo and Lexus followed next, selling 29,750 units, 15,051 units and 13,969 units, respectively.

Meanwhile, the transport ministry recently said it has imposed fines totalling 11.7 billion won ($8.16 million) on 18 foreign and domestic automakers for selling cars with inadequate safety standards.

Of those, the imported brands included BMW Korea, Honda Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Tesla Korea, while the domestic manufacturers included Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp. and KG Mobility Corp., according to the ministry.

The ministry said the fines were based on corrective measures against defective parts of the companies' models from July to December of last year.

BMW Korea received the largest fine of 2.99 billion won over issues involving defective steering wheels in 13 models.