Tesla, No. 1 in imported car sales for 6 consecutive months…followed by BMW, Benz, BYD

Tesla, No. 1 in imported car sales for 6 consecutive months…followed by BMW, Benz, BYD

U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has ranked first in sales in the imported car market for six consecutive months.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on the 5th, new registrations of imported passenger cars in July totaled 30,976 units, an increase of 14.3% compared to the same month last year.

Tesla maintained its No. 1 position with 10,237 units, the only imported car brand to exceed 10,000 units. This marks its sixth consecutive month at No. 1 since February this year.

This was followed by BMW with 6,533 units, Mercedes-Benz with 3,959 units, BYD with 2,846 units, Lexus with 1,474 units, Toyota with 1,340 units, and Volvo with 958 units.

Tesla Model Y also topped model sales with 8,705 units sold. BMW 5 Series (1,919 units), Tesla Model 3 (1,531 units), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (1,408 units), and BYD Dolphin (1,264 units) ranked 2nd to 5th.

Driven by the strong performance of EV brands like Tesla and BYD, electric vehicles accounted for 49.8% (15,428 units) of registrations by fuel type. This was followed by hybrids at 41.5% (12,840 units), gasoline at 8.1% (2,514 units), and diesel at 0.6% (194 units).

By purchase type, individual purchases accounted for 20,636 units (66.6%), and corporate purchases for 10,340 units (33.4%).

Jung Yoon-young, Vice President of KAIDA, explained, "New registrations of imported passenger cars in July decreased compared to the previous month (38,059 units) due to supply shortages for some brands and the impact of the vacation season."