BEIRUT: The sales of new cars rose 13.4 percent during the first month of 2013 to reach 2,358 vehicles compared to 2,080 units sold in the same period last year, according to figures released by the Association of Car Importers in Lebanon.

Once again, Korean carmakers dominated sales, accounting for 42.7 percent, followed by European cars with 25.3 percent. Japanese manufacturers sold 566 units in January, capturing 24 percent of market share.

In terms of brands, Kia took the lion’s share with 538 vehicles sold, while Hyundai followed with 468 units and Nissan with 326 units. Toyota came fourth with 125 cars and Renault fifth with 101 cars. Chinese car were the most competitive vehicles in the market due to their low price and fuel-efficiency.

Compared to January 2012, Chinese car sales jumped 193 percent from 14 cars sold to 41 cars in 2013.

Japanese cars came second in terms of sales growth with a rise of 18 percent, followed by a 13 percent increase in sales of American cars.

As for the shares of distributors in Lebanon, Natco SAL captured 21.5 percent of total new registrations in January followed by Century Motor Co. and RYMCO SAL, which took 18.9 percent and 14 percent of total market share respectively.