Tesla quickly losing grounds in Korea with zero sale in July

Tesla Model 3. [Photo by Tesla]

Tesla once dominant EV brand on Korean roads is quickly losing ground in South Korea, having sold none last month.

According to the CarIsYou Data Lab on Monday, Tesla sold zero car in Korea in July. The U.S. EV maker claims it could not sell any car as its two-month shipments have been sold out.

Tesla cars arrive in shipment every three to four months. In February, it brought in 3,270 cars of which 3,194 were sold in March and the rest in April. Sales are usually high in March, May, August, or November.

Even counting in its shipment schedule, Tesla sales have been sharply falling in Korea.

Sales in the first quarter fell 16 percent on year. For the first half, sales plunged 42 percent to 6,746 units partly because of production disruption in China in the second quarter.

The fall contrasts with its global sales trend.

Tesla’s global sales increased 46 percent to 564,000 units in the first half.

“Korea could have been pushed back for shipments as Tesla cars are not as popular as before,” said one source in the imported car market.

Lacking after-sale service and price hike by 20 to 30 percent caused put-off for Korean consumers who now have a larger range of choices in EVs from local to foreign brands compared to three years when Tesla first entered Korea.

Foreign EV cars apart from Tesla models jumped 154.6 percent on year to 8,045 units so far this year.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]