Though domestic brands like Hyundai, Kia, Ssangyong, and Samsung (technically Renault-Samsung) mostly flood Korean roads, that doesn’t mean that imported brands aren’t considered among Korean buyers.
For years, the one car that has always been on the top of the imported car sales chart in Korea is the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. In fact, that record stood for the last 5 years until June 2021 when the Tesla Model 3 dethroned it.
The E-Class’ slip from the top saw it pushed down to fifth place in June with 1,181 units sold. According to Korean car sales data, the Tesla Model 3 took the lead with 2,884 units sold in the country.
Also read: Video: Tesla Model 3 Review, Time to Say Goodbye to Combustion Engines
This was followed by the BMW 5 Series (2,021 units), Tesla Model Y (1,972 units), and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1,707 units). That’s right, the Mercedes-Benz flagship outsold its supposedly more mainstream executive sibling in Korea last month.
According to Korean media, one of the reasons the E-Class couldn’t hold its lead is because of the numerous quality issues being faced by the German executive sedan. These range from instrument panel glitches to something as serious as the mild hybrid system shutting the engine off.
Despite the E-Class’s struggling sales performance, Mercedes-Benz still holds the top spot among the brands with 6,845 units sold in June. This is buoyed by sales of the S-Class, C-Class (649 units), GLB (600 units), and GLE (598 units).
Also read: As sales of Mercedes-Benz C-Class slows, GLC is now Daimler’s global best seller
BMW follows behind with 6,503 units while Tesla ranks third with 4,860 units. A total of 30,476 units of imported models were sold in Korea last month. It’s still far behind from domestic brands which sold 134,761 units in the same periodh.
Also read: Hyundai-Kia’s 80% market share worries Korea, Malaysia indifferent with Proton/Perodua
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