사진 확대 (Reuters/Yonhap)
Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly gaining ground in South Korea, accounting for nearly four out of every 10 electric passenger cars sold in the country this year.
According to the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association (KAMA) on Sunday, 204,056 new electric passenger cars were registered in Korea from January through July. Of these, 79,580 were made in China, including 62,456 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, 14,464 BYD vehicles, and 2,660 Polestar vehicles, accounting for 39 percent of the total.
The actual share of Chinese-made EVs is estimated to have exceeded 40 percent when EVs produced at Chinese plants by global brands such as Volvo and MINI and imported into Korea are included.
KAMA data by country of manufacture showed that 69,513 Chinese-made EVs were newly registered in Korea in the first half of this year, up 178.7 percent from a year ago.
Their market share also rose 8.2 percentage points to 35 percent, making China the second-largest country of manufacture after Korea, which accounted for 114,046 vehicles, or 57.5 percent.
Germany ranked third with 9,314 vehicles, or 4.7 percent, followed by the United States with 4,283 vehicles, or 2.2 percent.
Excluding Korean- and Chinese-made vehicles, no other country accounted for even 5 percent of the market, effectively turning Korea’s EV market into a two-way contest between Korean- and Chinese-made vehicles based on country of manufacture.
China has already emerged as the largest country of manufacture in Korea’s imported car market. In the first half, 79,444 China-made imported vehicles were registered, up 127.8 percent from a year ago.
China-made vehicles accounted for 41.2 percent of total imported car registrations, overtaking Germany-made vehicles, which accounted for 30.1 percent to take the top spot for the first time.
By Han Ji-yeon and Han Yubin
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]