In a historic turn, electric vehicles outsold gasoline cars in May’s import vehicle market. Sales figures showed electric vehicles at 5,876 units, while gasoline cars trailed slightly at 5,873 units. Among powertrains, hybrid vehicles led the pack with 10,933 units sold.
Models under 2,000cc accounted for 11,547 units (47.7%), indicating that nearly half of new import buyers preferred compact models that are cheaper to maintain. Regionally, European vehicles were the dominant choice with 16,725 units (69.1%) sought after by the majority of new import buyers.
The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association reported that the number of new import registrations in May reached 24,209, a 12.3% increase compared to April’s 21,560 units. Cumulatively, sales up to May reached 100,352 units, which is a 3.4% decrease from the 103,933 units in the same period last year.
On a brand basis, BMW saw an increase in sales, reaching 6,240 units in May, up 8.5% from the previous month where it sold 5,750 units. Mercedes-Benz reported 5,947 units sold, down 11% from the 6,683 units sold in April. Tesla, on the other hand, experienced a significant surge with 4,165 units sold, marking a 141.9% increase compared to the previous month’s 1,722 units.
The best-selling model in May was the Tesla Model 3, with 3,542 units sold, followed by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2,244 units) and the BMW 5 Series (1,481 units).
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr