Tesla tops imported car sales in Korea in H1
A Tesla logo is displayed at a Tesla dealership in Alhambra, California, Thursday. AFP-Yonhap
U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla was the best-selling imported passenger car brand in Korea in the first half of this year, capturing 30 percent of the market, industry data showed Friday.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), 184,032 imported passenger cars were newly registered in the January-June period, up 33.2 percent from a year earlier.
Tesla topped the list with 56,139 units, accounting for 30.5 percent of total imports.
Its market share surged from 13.9 percent a year earlier, while sales soared 192 percent, allowing the U.S. EV maker to overtake German luxury brands.
BMW ranked second with a 21.3 percent market share, followed by Mercedes-Benz at 16.2 percent. Both brands saw their shares decline by more than 5 percentage points from a year earlier.
Chinese EV maker BYD came in fourth with a 6.3 percent share.
In June, 38,059 imported passenger cars were newly registered, up 27.5 percent from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for EVs.
The Tesla Model Y Long Range was the best-selling imported model last month with 5,155 units, followed by the Tesla Model Y Premium Long Range with 3,318 units and the BYD Dolphin with 2,747 units.