Tesla Model Y becomes South Korea's best-selling new car in July, beating all local rivals

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Tesla’s Model Y became the best-selling new car in Korea in July.

It edged past the Hyundai Grandeur, ending a long local streak.

Tesla took 33 percent of Korea’s imported car market last month.

Chinese brands have been climbing EV sales charts almost everywhere, but South Korea apparently missed the memo. Tesla is having its moment there, as the Model Y is the best-selling new car in the country, ahead of not just every other import, but every domestic sedan, crossover and hatchback on offer too. That’s an impressive feat in a country where buyers have historically treated imported cars as a niche indulgence.

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Tesla has cleared 10,000 units in Korea in each of the past five months. July brought 10,237, down from the 11,119 it managed in June, though that still worked out to 33.1 percent of every imported car registered in the country that month. BMW came second with 6,533, Mercedes-Benz third with 3,959, which puts the two German giants combined barely ahead of Tesla on its own.

Read: Tesla Delivered More Cars Than Any Q2 Ever And Its Stock Had The Worst Day Ever

Just like in other markets, it’s the Model Y that is dominating Tesla sales. A total of 8,705 were delivered in July, allowing it to surpass the Hyundai Grandeur as the nation’s best-seller that month, of which 8,532 units were sold over the same period. The Model Y Premium is the most popular, accounting for 6,612 sales, while 2,092 Model Y Premium Long Range models were sold.

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Tesla Dominating 2026

Tesla has been performing extraordinarily well in South Korea through the first seven months of this year. Total sales over this period hit 66,376 units, up 149.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Of these, 52,064 were Model Ys while 10,392 were Model 3s .

In general, Koreans prefer to buy from local brands, which explains why models from Hyundai and Kia largely dominate local roads. However, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are proving they’re open to new and compelling vehicles from foreign brands. Trailing far behind the Model Y as the country’s second-best-selling imported vehicle so far this year was the BMW 5-Series, with 13,756 units sold.

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South Korea Import Brand Sales July 2026

Brand Units

1. Tesla 10,237

2. BMW 6,533

3. Mercedes-Benz 3,959

4. BYD 2,846

5. Lexus 1,474

6. Toyota 1,340

7. Volvo 958

8. Audi 935

9. Porsche 635

10. Mini 632

11. Volkswagen 471

12. Land Rover 308

13. Polestar 248

14. Jeep 73

15. Lamborghini 61

16. Cadillac 42

17. GMC 41

18. Lincoln 39

19. Bentley 36

20. Peugeot 35

21. Ford 32

22. Ferrari 18

23. Rolls-Royce 12

24. Honda 11

SWIPE

Source: EV Wire , KAIDA