Tesla Reclaims Top Spot in South Korea's November Imported Car Sales

According to Korean media reports, Tesla, which was overtaken by BMW in October and fell to third place in the Korean imported car sales rankings, regained the top spot in November. The latest data released by the Korea Imported Automobile Association (KAIDA) on December 3 shows that Tesla's new car registrations in Korea reached 7,632 units in November, topping the country's imported car sales brand list; BMW followed closely with 6,426 units, while Mercedes-Benz ranked third with 6,139 units.

Image source: Tesla

From January to November this year, BMW topped the cumulative sales chart with 70,541 units, surpassing second place Mercedes-Benz by more than 10,000 units, and is likely to achieve a three-peat in annual imported car sales in South Korea. During the same period, Mercedes-Benz sold 60,260 units, while Tesla sold 55,594 units.

In November, South Korea's overall new car registration for imported vehicles reached 29,357 units, a year-on-year increase of 23.4%. In addition to Tesla, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, the top ten brands of imported cars in South Korea for November also included Volvo (1,459 units), BYD (1,164 units), Lexus (1,039 units), MINI (918 units), Toyota (864 units), Porsche (800 units), and Audi (705 units).

In terms of power type, hybrid vehicles dominate the Korean imported car market with a registration volume of 15,064 units, accounting for 51.3%; pure electric vehicles have a registration volume of 10,757 units, accounting for 36.6%; gasoline vehicles account for 3,210 units, with a share of 10.9%; and diesel vehicles only account for 326 units, with a share of 1.1%.

In November, the best-selling imported car in South Korea was the Tesla Model Y (4,604 units), with the Mercedes E 200 (1,658 units) and Tesla Model Y Long Range (1,576 units) ranking second and third, respectively.

From January to November this year in South Korea, the cumulative sales ranking of imported models shows Tesla Model Y leading with 35,363 units sold, while traditional popular models Mercedes-Benz E 200 and BMW 520 have cumulative sales of only 13,652 units and 13,469 units respectively.

South Korean local media has also pointed out that an increasing number of imported car brands are launching online direct sales models. This strategy helps reduce dealers' sales costs and vehicle prices, while also increasing the transparency of car purchase prices for consumers.