Tesla now a key player in S Korea amid strong demand for German cars

Elon Musk-run electric carmaker Tesla has emerged as a major player in South Korea’s imported passenger vehicle market this year, with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi set to close the year as the three best-selling brands, industry data showed on Wednesday.

Tesla’s vehicle sales have been on the rise since September when it began to bring in Model Y midsized SUVs manufactured at its Shanghai plant at sharply lowered prices compared with the Model Y’s U.S.-made versions.

Tesla began to deliver its models, starting with the Model S 90D, to the Korean market in June 2017. It currently sells the Model S flagship sedan, the Model X flagship SUV and the rear-wheel-drive Model Y SUV in Korea, while operating 1,007 stalls at 147 supercharger stations here, reports Yonhap news agency.

The Shanghai-made Model Y is widely expected to continue to boost Tesla’s vehicle sales due to its price competitiveness and the rising demand for emission-free cars.

In the January-November period, Tesla ranked fourth with sales of 15,439 units, exceeding its bigger rivals: Volvo Cars with 15,410 units and Lexus with 12,191 units, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) and local market tracker CarIsYou.

Local demand for German brands remained strong this year as a growing number of consumers prefer high-end and high-performance models. German carmakers, including the three brands mentioned above and the Volkswagen brand, sold a total of 173,579 units in the 11-month period, accounting for 71 per cent of overall imported vehicle sales of 243,811 autos, KAIDA data showed.

BMW topped others by selling 69,546 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 68,156 units and Audi with 16,650 units in the first 11 months.

Japanese brands — Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and its independent brand, Lexus — saw their sales rebound this year after suffering years of sluggish demand due to a trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo.

Local consumers shunned Japanese vehicles over the neighbour’s restrictions on exports of key materials to South Korea in 2019.