Industry data released on Friday shows that American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors became the top-selling imported passenger car brand in South Korea for the first half of this year, securing a 30% market share.
According to statistics from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, the number of newly registered imported passenger cars in South Korea from January to June reached 184,032 units, representing a 33.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
Tesla Motors led with 56,139 units, accounting for 30.5% of the total imported passenger car volume.
The company's market share surged from 13.9% a year ago, with sales skyrocketing by 192%, allowing the American EV maker to surpass German luxury brands.
BMW secured the second position with a 21.3% market share, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 16.2%. Both brands saw their market shares decline by more than 5 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD ranked fourth with a 6.3% market share.
In June, new registrations for imported passenger cars in South Korea totaled 38,059 units, a 27.5% year-on-year increase, primarily driven by strong market demand for electric vehicles.
The Tesla Model Y Long Range was the best-selling imported model last month with 5,155 units sold. It was followed by the Tesla Model Y Premium Long Range with 3,318 units, and BYD's Dolphin model in third place with 2,747 units.
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