Featured image: Tesla Korea

Electric vehicle sales in South Korea increased by 23% YoY. Notably, Tesla's sales in the country grew by 1500% + YoY in the first half of the year, accounting for almost half of all subsidies.

Electric vehicle sales reached 22,267 units in the first half of 2020, up 23% from the previous year, according to a report released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on July 26. Tesla sales in particular increased more than 15 times, accounting for 43% of all EV subsidies, according to Business Korea.

Sales of electric passenger vehicles manufactured in Korea fell to 43.1% in 2019 due to subsidy cuts, the phasing out of personal slow charger subsidies, and delays in the launch of new models. In contrast, sales of imported electric vehicles rose 564.1%. In aggregate, sales of the passenger cars were 16,359 units.

In the first half of 2020, domestic carmakers sold 14,563 EV units, down 13.7% from a year earlier. As a result, their market share fell from 93.2% a year earlier to 65.1%. Despite the explosive growth of electric cargo trucks, Hyundai Motor saw its overall sales fall 2.9% on the year due to a drop in electric passenger car sales, while Kia Motors also saw its electric passenger car sales drop 54.6% on the year, which contributed to a 23.7% reduction in overall EV sales.

In contrast, Tesla's passenger electric vehicle market share in Korea increased to 43.3% in the first half of the year, an increase of 1,587.8% year over year thanks to the full expansion of Model 3 distribution. As a result, the company received an estimated 90 billion won or 43% of all subsidies for electric passenger cars.eceived an estimated 90 billion won or 43% of all subsidies for electric passenger cars.

Source: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport | Car is You

Based on figures from automobile data analysis firm Car is You and statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Tesla sold 6,839 Model 3s in the first half of 2020. In second place was Hyundai Kona with 4,078 cars, followed by a Hyundai Porter II Electric with 3,530 cars. These data show a significant gap in sales between Model 3 and its closest competitors.

The Tesla image creates certain brand loyalty, as it is considered a revolutionary symbol of its innovative Autopilot technology and the EV platform. Other manufacturers, such as Hyundai and Kia, both lagged behind in the creation of their electric vehicles, which allows Tesla to occupy a dominant position.

Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

 Follow @EvaFoxU