[THE INVESTOR] Sales of imported vehicles in Korea rose 16 percent in July from a year earlier on strong demand for German cars, industry data showed on Aug. 6.

The number of newly registered foreign vehicles rose to 20,518 last month from 17,628 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said in a statement.

Five out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Korea last month were made by German carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz and Audi Volkswagen Group, the statement said.

The three best-selling models were the Audi A6 35 TDI sedan, Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI sport utility vehicle and Mercedes-Benz E 220d 4MATIC sedan, it said.

BMW saw the on-month sales of vehicles under the BMW badge continue to fall over the past four months through July as 32 cases of fire incidents in the engine compartment of its vehicles, mainly the 520d sedan, have been reported in Korea this year. The German carmaker also has under its wings the MINI and Rolls-Royce brands.

If BMW continues to suffer declines in on-month sales for the rest of the year, Audi Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are widely expected to be the biggest beneficiaries.

Audi Volkswagen was at the center of a scandal over fabricated diesel fuel emission numbers. It resumed sales in Korea in November after suspending normal operations in 2016 and 2017.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)