This year, one in four passenger cars sold in South Korea is imported. The share of imported vehicles has surpassed 25% for the first time, driven by the rise of electric cars.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers Association and the Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association, the proportion of imported cars among newly registered vehicles reached 25.8% in May, with 29,860 imported cars out of a total of 115,680 new registrations.
In June, the number of newly registered imported cars exceeded 38,000, accounting for 25.9% of the total.
The share of imported cars among new registrations reached 10% in 2012 and surpassed 15% in 2015. Last year, the number of newly registered imported cars exceeded 300,000, achieving a market share of 20.3%. Since February of this year, the share has consistently remained above 20%.
In June, the number of newly registered imported passenger cars increased by 37% compared to the same month last year, marking the highest monthly total on record. For the first half of the year, cumulative registrations reached 184,000, also a record high.
The increase in the share of imported cars is attributed to the success of electric vehicle brands. Tesla registered 56,139 new vehicles in the first half of the year, a 192% increase from the previous year.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD is also contributing to the expansion of the imported car market alongside Tesla. BYD registered 11,675 new vehicles in the first half of the year, surpassing brands like Lexus and Audi to rank fourth.
Notably, the total number of imported cars registered in the first half of the year was 184,000, an increase of 46,000 compared to the same period last year, with Tesla and BYD accounting for 47,000 of that increase.
In June, the share of electric vehicles among imported cars exceeded half, reaching 51.1%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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