Korean Media: Chinese Car Sales Surpass Japanese Cars in South Korea Market!
On June 8, Korean media outlet JoongAng Ilbo published an article stating that data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association shows that South Korea's imported car sales reached 33,993 units in April, remaining unchanged from the previous month and increasing by 58.1% compared to the same period last year.
Notably, April set multiple new records. First, in terms of brands, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla sold 13,190 units in South Korea—marking the first time the brand achieved monthly sales exceeding 13,000 units.
Moreover, when it comes to the country of origin for imported vehicles, sales of Chinese cars surpassed those of Japanese cars. This marks the first time Chinese car sales have overtaken Japanese car sales in South Korea.
BYD entered the South Korean market last year. In just April, BYD sold 2,023 units. Japanese car brands—including Lexus, Toyota, and Honda—combined sold only 1,974 units, falling short of BYD’s performance.
In addition, although Tesla is categorized as an American brand, all models imported into South Korea for sale are manufactured at its Shanghai Gigafactory in China. In April alone, the combined sales of BYD and Tesla reached 15,213 units, ranking second behind 16,385 units of European-imported cars.
A South Korean industry insider stated: “Both Tesla and BYD currently sell only pure electric vehicles. However, with rising fuel prices boosting demand for electric vehicles and South Korean consumers gradually overcoming their bias toward Chinese products, we expect Chinese automakers’ market share to grow further this year.”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867394363905024/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.