For the first time ever, an imported model could finish the year as South Korea's best-selling vehicle. After another record month in September, the Tesla Model Y is now just 1,810 units behind the Kia Sorento in year-to-date sales, setting up a tight fight for the 2026 crown over the last three months of the year.
Model Y was Korea's No. 1 again in September
According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA), Tesla registered 12,372 cars in South Korea in September, 35% of all imported passenger cars sold that month. The Model Y alone accounted for 11,157 units: 8,690 Model Y L and 2,467 Model Y Premium. That was enough to make it the best-selling vehicle of any brand in the country, as reported by KED Global.
Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which counts sales slightly differently, puts the Model Y at 11,421 units in September. Either way, it was well ahead of the best domestic models:
Tesla Model Y: 11,421 units (Ministry data; 11,157 according to KAIDA)
Hyundai Grandeur: 8,898 units
Hyundai Avante (Elantra): 7,305 units
Kia Sorento: 6,957 units
Only 1,810 units between them
From January to September, the Kia Sorento leads with 74,933 units, while the Tesla Model Y has reached 73,123. With three months left, the gap is just 1,810 units, less than the difference between the two models in September alone.
The Sorento was South Korea's best-selling vehicle in 2025, when it pulled more than 42,000 units ahead of its twin, the Hyundai Santa Fe (why the Santa Fe failed to stop the Sorento). An imported model has never finished a full year as the country's top seller.
A model race, not a brand race
It is important to be clear about what is being compared: this is one model against another, not Tesla against Kia. The Model Y is essentially Tesla's whole business in Korea, while the Sorento is just one of many Kia models. As a brand, Kia still sells far more cars in Korea than Tesla.
Kia in Korea, September: 45,705 units
Tesla in Korea, September: 12,372 units
In other words, Kia sold almost four times as many cars as Tesla in Korea in September, even in a month when the Model Y was the country's best-selling model. Kia's domestic sales did fall 6.7% year on year in September, but over the third quarter Kia sold about 140,000 cars at home and even outsold Hyundai in Korea over a full quarter for the first time, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
Still a warning sign for Hyundai and Kia
That said, the Model Y's success is worrying for Korea's domestic automakers. The real problem is not Tesla's total volume, but the fact that neither Hyundai nor Kia has an electric model that can truly rival the Model Y or the Model 3 in their own home market.
On paper, Hyundai and Kia have one of the widest EV lineups in the world, from the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 to the EV3, EV4, EV5 and EV6. They have also cut prices and launched ultra-low financing deals in Korea to fight back: the IONIQ 5 now starts at around 47.4 million won, and the 2027 model brought further price cuts (Hyundai and Kia respond to Tesla, 2027 IONIQ 5 price cuts). Even so, none of these models comes close to the Model Y's monthly numbers. In September, the best-selling Hyundai and Kia models were the Grandeur, the Avante and the Sorento, none of them electric.
With Tesla preparing a cheaper Model 3 Standard for Korea and Chinese brands such as BYD growing fast, the pressure on Hyundai and Kia's EVs is only going to increase. Winning back Korean EV buyers will take more than discounts: it will take an electric model that buyers see as a real alternative to the Tesla.
Imports keep gaining ground
Tesla's growth is part of a bigger shift in the Korean market. Imported cars totaled 39,404 registrations in September, and more than half of them (52.1%) were electric. After Tesla came BMW (6,066), Mercedes-Benz (5,477) and BYD (2,614), the Chinese brand that only entered Korea last year. Through September, Tesla has registered 89,148 cars in Korea, more than double the same period of 2025.
The overall market, on the other hand, fell 14.3% in September to about 135,000 units. The ministry blamed the shorter working month due to the Chuseok holiday, buyers waiting for new models, and some local EV subsidies running out.
How Hyundai and Kia are responding
Hyundai and Kia have been fighting back on price for months, with cuts, ultra-low financing and extra ownership benefits for their EVs (Hyundai and Kia respond to Tesla). Kia has also refreshed its Korean lineup with the 2027 Sorento Black Edition (2027 Sorento Black Edition).
The bigger answer for the Sorento is still to come. Instead of an all-new generation, Kia is preparing a second facelift for the current model, the same strategy it is using for the K5 (Sorento second facelift, K5 second facelift).
Who will win 2026?
If the Model Y keeps selling at September's pace and the Sorento stays around 7,000 units a month, Tesla could overtake Kia before the end of the year. However, Tesla's Korean sales depend heavily on shipments and EV subsidies, which have already started to run out in some regions. October, November and December will decide whether 2026 becomes the year an imported model finally tops the Korean sales charts. Even if it does, Kia and Hyundai will remain by far the biggest car brands in their home market, but the Model Y has already shown that, in electric cars, they have yet to find an answer.
Sources: KAIDA, Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, KED Global, Seoul Economic Daily, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Herald Corp.
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