Tesla leads Korea’s imported EV market surge

May 07, 2026, 11:20 am

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Tesla Model Y. /Tesla

Tesla continued to dominate South Korea’s imported vehicle market in April as electric vehicle sales surged, ushering in what industry observers described as a new boom era for EVs.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on Wednesday, newly registered imported passenger vehicles rose 58.1% year-on-year to 33,993 units in April. Cumulative registrations through April reached 116,113 units, up 41.3% from a year earlier.

Tesla ranked first among imported brands with 13,190 units sold, followed by BMW with 6,658 units and Mercedes-Benz with 4,796 units. Chinese EV maker BYD posted strong sales of 2,023 units, while Polestar

sold 675 vehicles.

Other brands included Volvo Cars with 1,105 units, Lexus with 1,079, Audi with 918, Toyota with 829, MINI

with 696, Porsche with 679 and Volkswagen with 458.

By engine displacement, vehicles under 2,000cc accounted for 9,087 units, while EVs categorized as “other” totaled 18,319 units.

Electric vehicles represented 53.9% of all imported passenger vehicle registrations in April, followed by hybrids at 37.6%, gasoline vehicles at 8.0% and diesel vehicles at 0.5%.

Individual consumers accounted for 65% of purchases, while corporate buyers made up 35%. Among private buyers, the largest shares came from Gyeonggi, Seoul and Incheon.

The best-selling imported model in April was the Tesla Model Y Premium with 9,328 units sold, followed by the Tesla Model 3 Premium Long Range with 1,481 units and the BMW 520 with 1,191 units.

Jung Yoon-young said imported passenger vehicle registrations in April remained similar to the previous month despite mixed brand performances, supported by strong EV demand and new vehicle launches by several automakers.

#Tesla #BMW #Mercedes-Benz #BYD #Polestar