Car Sales Dip 1% in South Korea

New-car registrations in South Korea slipped 1% to 1.82 million units in 2016, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Assn. The decline was the market's first since 2012, when year-on-year sales dropped 3%.

KAMA says registrations in 2016 rose for buyers in their 20s and 50s but fell for those in their 30s and 40s. Demand for diesels shrank to 48% of the market from 53% in 2015.

Hybrid-powered vehicles captured 3% of the market in 2016 compared with a 2% share in the previous year. Registrations of all-electric vehicles rose 76% to about 5,000 units.