Tesla has beaten the Koreans in their home turf
In markets like the United States, it’s not surprising why Tesla is able to top sales charts, particularly with the Model Y which is the country’s bestselling vehicle. The brand is after all a full blown American automaker.
In South Korea though, Tesla has been able to do something that no foreign automaker has done, and that’s to outsell every other vehicle model in the country, including models from homegrown brands like Hyundai and Kia, among others.
Enough for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to remark that “Korea is Awesome” on his X account, the Tesla Model Y sold 8,762 units in South Korea for the month of May 2026, beating the Kia Sorento which saw a sales figure of 7,826 units, and the Hyundai Grandeur which saw 5,183 units sold, based on reports from multiple sources in South Korea.
More interesting is the fact that the Model Y by itself was able to outsell three domestic automotive companies combined. GM Korea, Renault Korea, and KG Mobility recorded a combined total sales figure of just 7,019 units.
The automotive market of South Korea is known to be very difficult for foreign automakers, with customers choosing to support local brands. A short walk on the streets shows this immediately, with even models from Toyota, the world’s bestselling brand, being a rare sight. Just recently, Honda formally announced its exit from the Korean market by the end of the year.
Despite that, Tesla was still able to beat the odds, with its high sales numbers attributed to aggressive pricing, lowering purchase prices for the Model Y to just KRW 49,990,000 or around Php 2,017,000. For comparison, the Tesla Model Y starts at Php 2,369,000 here in the Philippines. There was also the fuel crisis that was born from the conflict in the Middle East which resulted in a huge spike in fuel prices, shifting new car buyer preferences to battery electric vehicles (BEV).
Here in the Philippines, Tesla also topped sales charts, at least for BEV sales. It reemerged as the top-selling BEV brand in the country for the months of February and April 2026, beating popular automotive brands like VinFast and Toyota. In 2025, it was the second bestselling BEV brand after BYD with 2,424 units sold.
