Imported car sales jump 34.6% in March on strong EV demand

Sales of imported vehicles in Korea rose 34.6 percent in March from a year earlier, supported by more working days and robust demand for electric vehicles (EVs), industry data showed Friday. New registrations increased to 33,970 units last month from 25,229 a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA). The three best-selling models in March were all from U.S. EV maker Tesla – the Model Y, Model 3 Long Range and Model 3. Tesla's sales more than quadrupled to 11,130 units last month from 2,591 a year earlier. Sales at BYD Korea surged to 1,664 units from 10 over the same period. The unit of China's BYD began local operations in January last year, with sales first reported in March. By powertrain, fully electric vehicles accounted for 47.8 percent of total registrations, or 16,249 units, followed by hybrids at 42.9 percent, gasoline models at 8.7 percent and diesel vehicles at 0.5 percent. Three German automakers — Volkswagen Group Korea, BMW Group Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea — sold a combined 14,891 units in March, down 6.4 percent fr

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