SEOUL, KOREA- Car sales hit a year's high in July 2013, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy.Domestic car sales, including the sales of domestically made cars and import cars, reached 140,642 units in July 2013, up 5.8 percent from a year ago. The July figure represented the highest monthly number in 2013.

After reaching 146,991 units in December 2012, domestic car sales hovered between 110,000 and 130,000 units during the January-June period of this year.

Key factors behind the rise in monthly car sales include a series of new cars releases such as the Korando Turismo, the reduction in sales prices of popular models, including Avante and K3, plus a steady growth in sales of import cars.

The sales of import cars reached an all-time high at 14,953 units last month. In particular, Volkswagen enjoyed a remarkable year-on-year sales growth of 124.3 percent, while BMW marked a positive year-on-year sales growth of 25.7 percent. The sales of domestically made cars also rose by 2.9 percent to 125,689 units from a year ago.