Chinese automakers, once expected to struggle in the Korean market, are rapidly expanding their presence. China climbed to third place by country in Korea's imported car market last month for the first time, taking the spot of Japan, whose foothold has shrunk following Honda's withdrawal.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on Tuesday, new vehicle registrations in the imported car market in April ranked as follows: Europe with 16,385 units, the United States with 13,611 units, China with 2,023 units, and Japan with 1,974 units. This marks the first time Chinese-made vehicles have outsold Japanese vehicles in Korea. China's market share also edged out Japan's, at 6.0% versus 5.8%.
Notably, China surpassed Japan — represented by Lexus, Toyota and Honda — with a single brand, BYD. New vehicle registrations for these brands in the same month came to 2,023 units for BYD, 1,079 for Lexus, 829 for Toyota and 66 for Honda. Backed by Korea's electric vehicle subsidies this year, BYD ranked fourth among imported brands by sales for the second consecutive month following March.
BYD began selling electric passenger vehicles in Korea in earnest from 2025. Its electric passenger models currently on sale include the Sealion 7, Atto 3, Dolphin and Seal. The defining feature of these models is value for money, with prices ranging from the 20 million won to 40 million won bracket.
Regarding BYD's strong performance, analysts say Korean consumers — whose preference for electric vehicles has grown amid high oil prices — are turning to Chinese cars that combine price competitiveness with software-defined vehicle (SDV) capabilities.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), citing data from market research firm MarkLines, China also topped the global new vehicle sales ranking last year. Chinese automakers sold about 27 million new vehicles worldwide last year, up roughly 10% from the previous year. Japanese automakers, the previous No. 1, saw sales slip slightly from a year earlier to about 25 million units.
