Tesla charges past Mercedes to become No. 2 imported brand

Tesla CEO Elon Musk waves as he arrives at a festival in Rome, Italy on Dec. 16. [AP/YONHAP]

Tesla has overtaken Mercedes-Benz to become the second-most imported brand in Korea, hot on the heels of BMW.

A total of 25,263 cars from imported brands were newly registered in March, up 6 percent during the same period a year ago, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.

Of them, 6,549 units were BMWs, making the brand No. 1, followed by Tesla with 6,025 vehicles and Mercedes-Benz with 4,197.

It marked the first time Tesla has bested Mercedes-Benz in Korea in terms of sales. Lexus and Volvo came in fourth and fifth, selling 1,218 units and 1,081 units, respectively.

Industry watchers attributed U.S. EV maker's strong advance in sales to the confirmation of government EV subsidies last month. The third-placed German automaker also saw a significant decrease in registrations due to delivery delays caused by political tensions in the Middle East.

By model, Tesla's Model Y was the bestselling car at 5,934 units, followed by the BMW 5 and the Lexus ES, with 2,259 units and 822 units sold, respectively.

The Chinese-made Model Y was a big hit in the domestic market last year. Thanks to cheaper Chinese batteries, it was released with a price tag 20 million won ($15,000) cheaper than the U.S.-made version.

Tesla will release a Chinese-made Model 3 in Korea soon.

BY SARAH CHEA, YONHAP [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]