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Tesla tops monthly imported car sales in Korea for 1st time in May

Published: 05 Jun. 2025, 16:45

Tesla's Model Y vehicle [TESLA]

Tesla topped Korea's imported passenger car sales for the first time last month amid a sharp increase in EV demand, industry data showed Thursday.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (Kaida), 28,189 imported passenger cars were newly registered in May, up 16.4 percent from a year ago and 31.1 percent from April.

Kaida attributed the improved sales performance to smoother supply conditions for some brands and the impact of new model launches.

Tesla claimed the top spot in brand sales with 6,570 units sold, marking a 354 percent jump from April's 1,447 units. It was followed by Mercedes-Benz with 6,415 units, BMW with 6,405 units and Porsche with 1,192 units.

By fuel type, hybrids accounted for 53.3 percent of sales with 15,027 units, followed by EVs at 33.8 percent, gasoline models at 11.6 percent and diesel cars at 1.2 percent.

EV sales, in particular, surged 62.2 percent on year thanks to the popularity of Tesla, pushing their market share above 30 percent for the first time.

Tesla's Model Y was the best-selling model in May with 6,237 units sold, followed by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class with 2,317 and the BMW 5 Series with 2,092.

Yonhap