Sales of imported vehicles in Korea spiked 30 percent in April from a year earlier on the back of brisk sales of diesel and hybrid models, a trade association said Friday.

A total of 10,668 foreign-made vehicles were sold here last month, compared with 8,204 units sold a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA).

April's figure also marked a 0.2 percent gain from the previous month, when 10.648 imported vehicles were sold.

"The sales of foreign cars did well as consumer interest in diesel and hybrid power vehicles rose in the face of high domestic fuel prices," said KAIDA in a statement.

New vehicle models such as the Toyota Camry and BMW's all-new 3 series helped push up demand, it said.

German brand BMW retained the best-selling foreign brand title in South Korea last month with sales of 2,727 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 1,673 cars sold and Volkswagen with 1,330. Audi posted sales of 1,228 units, with Japan's Toyota managing to sell 998.

In the first four months of the year, sales of foreign vehicles in the country gained 17.8 percent from a year earlier to 39,953 units, according to the association. (Yonhap)