Tesla slashes car prices in Korea by as much as $6,500 ahead of new year

Tesla has slashed prices of its vehicles in Korea by as much as 9.4 million won ($6,500) ahead of the new year, a move widely seen as an effort to cement its position as the country’s top-selling imported car brand.

Tesla Korea's Shinsa store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [TESLA]

Tesla has slashed prices of its vehicles in Korea by as much as 9.4 million won ($6,500) ahead of the new year, a move widely seen as an effort to cement its position as the country’s top-selling imported car brand.

Tesla Korea announced on Wednesday via its website that it has begun discounting several models, including the midsize electric sedan Model 3 and the midsize electric sport utility vehicle Model Y.

The largest price cut applies to the Model 3 Performance AWD — Tesla’s top-performing all-wheel-drive trim — which was reduced by 9.4 million won to 59.99 million won. The Model Y Premium Long Range AWD saw its price cut by 3.15 million won to 59.99 million won, and the Model Y Premium RWD, a rear-wheel-drive variant, was reduced by 3 million won to 49.99 million won.

This is not Tesla’s first price cut in Korea this year. In April, the company lowered prices by 7 million won when it unveiled an updated version of the Model Y.

Tesla’s decision reflects a broader global slowdown in EV demand, as well as an expected lull in the domestic market before government EV subsidies are finalized. While subsidies are typically confirmed between February and March, last year’s were finalized unusually early in January.

The Model 3 shown on Tesla Korea's website. The Model 3 Performance AWD lowered prices to 59.99 million won ($41,000) this year. [TESLA]

Tesla sold 7,632 vehicles in Korea last month, reclaiming the top spot in monthly imported car sales and beating German rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The U.S. automaker had ranked first for three consecutive months from July to September this year before briefly slipping behind BMW in October.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, total imported vehicle sales from January to November this year stood at 278,769 units. At the current pace, annual sales are expected to surpass 300,000 units this year.

BMW ranked first in cumulative sales for the January to November period with 70,541 units sold, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 60,260 and Tesla with 55,594.

Chinese EV maker BYD, which entered the Korean market earlier this year, is also emerging as a potential challenger to Tesla. BYD began full-scale sales in Korea in February and sold 4,955 vehicles through November.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY KO SUK-HYUN [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]