Imported EV Price War Intensifies in South Korea as Models Near 30 Million Won

Volvo EX30 on the road. [Photo provided by Volvo]

Imported electric-vehicle makers are accelerating their push in South Korea with price cuts and subsidy-focused strategies, aiming to bring more models into the 30 million won range that many consumers view as a key psychological threshold.

Industry officials said Feb. 25 that Volvo Car Korea will cut the price of its electric SUV, the EX30, by as much as 7.61 million won starting next month. The base trim will fall to 39.91 million won from 47.52 million won.

The discounting has spread among imported brands after Tesla opened the latest round of price cuts earlier this year. Tesla lowered the Model 3 Standard RWD to 41.99 million won. With a 1.68 million won national subsidy and local government subsidies, the purchase price could drop to the high 30 million won range, the report said.

BMW, the top-selling imported-car brand in South Korea, is emphasizing a strategy tied to larger EV subsidies. By building more than 3,000 EV chargers nationwide, BMW raised its incentive used in the Transport Ministry’s EV subsidy calculation by 37% from a year earlier, the report said. As a result, the BMW Mini Aceman E, priced at 49.80 million won, can fall to 40.30 million won when combining a 4.00 million won national subsidy and a 5.50 million won local subsidy, based on Haenam in South Jeolla Province.

Prices for imported EVs that had largely been in the 40 million to 50 million won range are now moving closer to the 30 million won level seen as a practical buying range for many consumers.

The report attributed the aggressive push by imported brands to South Korea’s subsidy policy. As the United States and Europe slow the pace of EV adoption and brands face uncertainty in China, EV supply is shifting toward South Korea, it said. South Korea this year is offering EV subsidies and an additional 1 million won for switching from an internal-combustion vehicle to an EV.

The structure of the imported-car market is also changing quickly. Of 307,377 imported vehicles sold last year, 91,253 were battery-electric vehicles, or 29.6%, the report said. Over the same period, sales of internal-combustion vehicles totaled 41,906. EV sales were more than double internal-combustion sales, underscoring a reshaping of the imported-car market.

Kim Pil-su, a professor in the Department of Future Automobiles at Daelim University, said the trend toward lower prices is clear. “It’s evident that the trend is to lower prices so consumers can access them more easily,” Kim said. He added that shifting batteries — a major share of EV costs — to Chinese-made LFP batteries appears to have created some room for price cuts.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Oh Jooseok