Import car brands broke the all-time high record in vehicle sales for the third consecutive month so far this year.

After attaining record figures in March and again in April, foreign carmakers saw their combined sales come to a fresh high of 11,708 units in May, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said Tuesday.

“The record-breaking streak for three months in a row is noteworthy because the former record before March 2012 was the figure posted a year before (10,290 units in March 2011),” a KAIDA spokeswoman said.

She said the “strong-demand season” and “new vehicle effects from the Busan International Motor Show,” which was held between May 24 and June 3, will be factors for a similar sales boom in the coming months.

But she added that the industry was unsure on future sales, citing unfavorable factors like the re-emerging eurozone debt crisis.

KAIDA data showed that the import brands’ May sales of 11,708 units marked 33.4 percent growth compared to the figure a year earlier.

Their cumulative sales between January and May increased by 21 percent to 51,661 units from 42,700 units over the same period last year.

Just as in past months, BMW topped the list with sales of 2,985 units in May, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 1,868 units, Volkswagen with 1,467 units and Audi with 1,280 units.

BMW Group Korea has steadily secured the No. 1 position among the import brands over the past few years. Its MINI brand ranked sixth with sales of 523 units last month.

Lexus, which had vied for the No. 1 position with BMW in Korea as the premium brand of Toyota Motor, slid to eighth with sales of 413 units.

Recently, relatively cheap import cars with price tags under 30 million won ($26,500) have emerged as a threat not only to Hyundai and Kia but also to companies which operate manufacturing factories in Korea ― GM, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)