U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla overtook Mercedes-Benz as the second-largest seller of imported vehicles in South Korea last month, industry data showed Wednesday.
The number of newly registered imported cars came to 25,263 units in March, up 6 percent from 23,840 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said in a statement.
Of those, BMW accounted for 6,549 units, followed by Tesla and Mercedes-Benz, with 6,025 units and 4,197 units, respectively.
It marked the first time for Tesla to beat Mercedes-Benz in South Korea in terms of sales. Lexus and Volvo came in fourth and fifth, selling 1,218 units and 1,081 units, respectively.
Industry watchers attributed Tesla’s strong advance in sales to the confirmation of government EV subsidies last month. Also, Mercedes-Benz saw a significant decrease in registrations due to delivery delays caused by political tensions in the Middle East.
In terms of individual models, Tesla’s Model Y was the bestselling car, selling 5,934
units, followed by the BMW 5 and the Lexus ES, with 2,259 units and 822 units, respectively.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
