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The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said on the 3rd that new registrations of imported passenger cars in the first half totaled 184,032 units, up 33.2% from 138,120 units a year earlier.
Tesla ranked first with 56,139 units, accounting for 30.5% of the total. Its sales surged 192% from the same period last year.
BMW came in second with 39,150 units (21.3%), and Mercedes-Benz third with 29,776 units (16.2%). Both brands saw their market share fall by more than 5 percentage points from a year earlier.
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, which entered the Korean market last year, rose rapidly to fourth place with 11,675 units (6.3%).
They were followed by Lexus with 7,819 units (4.3%), Volvo with 7,470 units (4.1%), Audi with 7,337 units (4.0%), Toyota with 5,187 units (2.8%), Porsche with 4,322 units (2.4%), and Mini with 4,910 units (2.2%).
New registrations of imported passenger cars in June totaled 38,059 units, up 37.0% from 27,779 units a year earlier. That was also a 27.5% increase from the previous month (29,860 units).
Tesla led with 11,119 units, followed by BMW (6,569 units), Mercedes-Benz (5,565 units), BYD (4,652 units), Audi (1,772 units), Lexus (1,694 units), and Volvo (1,679 units).
The best-selling models were the Tesla Model Y L (5,155 units), the Tesla Model Y Premium (3,318 units), and the BYD Dolphin (2,747 units).
By engine displacement, registrations were 10,963 units (28.8%) under 2,000cc, 6,660 units (17.5%) from 2,000cc to under 3,000cc, 577 units (1.5%) from 3,000cc to under 4,000cc, 406 units (1.1%) at 4,000cc or more, and 19,453 units (51.1%) for other (electric vehicles).
By country, Europe accounted for 18,820 units (49.4%), the United States 11,445 units (30.1%), China 4,652 units (12.2%), and Japan 3,142 units (8.3%). By fuel type, electric led with 19,453 units (51.1%), followed by hybrid with 15,125 units (39.7%), gasoline with 3,211 units (8.4%), and diesel with 270 units (0.7%).
By purchase type, of the 38,059 units, individual purchases totaled 27,110 units, or 71.2%, and corporate purchases 10,949 units, or 28.8%.
For individual purchases, registrations by region were Gyeonggi with 9,050 units (33.4%), Seoul with 4,454 units (16.4%), and Incheon with 1,914 units (7.1%). For corporate purchases, they were Incheon with 3,216 units (29.4%), Busan with 3,106 units (28.4%), and South Gyeongsang with 1,226 units (11.2%).
Jung Yoon-young, vice chairman of the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, said, "New registrations of imported passenger cars in June rose from the previous month due to some brands securing supply and the effect of new car launches."
