South Korea September 2025: Market up 20.8%, Tesla breaks record, Kia EV5 lands

The Kia EV5 has finally landed at home.

Exceptional month for new light vehicle sales in South Korea: they are up 20.8% year-on-year in September to 157,522 units. This includes 124,692 domestic vehicles (+18.1%) and 32,830 foreigners (+32.2%). Year-to-date volumes are up 5.1% to 1,258,361 including 1,033,235 domestic (+3.1%) and 225,126 foreigners (+15.6%). Hyundai soars 25% to 35.8% share with sister brand Kia up an even more impressive 28.6% to 31.2% of the market. Genesis (-10.3%) brakes at #3 just as Tesla shoots up 572.3% to over 9,000 sales, a new record. Audi (+43.3%) also impresses at #9 while newcomer BYD is up to five spots on August to #13 with 0.6% share.

Looking at domestic models, the Kia Sorento (+35.5%) reclaims the top spot it holds year-to-date, passing the Hyundai Avante (+104.8%). The Kia Carnival (+37.9%) and Sportage (+41.3%) camp on their August positions while the Hyundai Santa Fe (+8.4%) is back up 7 ranks on last month to #5. No other Top 10 member beats the market, with the Hyundai Grandeur (-11.8%) and Sonata (-2.1%) hit the hardest. The Hyundai Palisade is up 138.8% year-on-year but down five spots on August to #11. The new Hyundai Ioniq 9 is up to a record #28 and we finally welcome the Kia EV5 at #47, months after its global launch.

As for foreign models, the Tesla Model Y (+954.4%) is up 10-fold year-on-year to reach a new all time high monthly volume at almost 8,500 units. Like last month, it ranks #2 in the general models ranking when including domestic fares. The Mercedes E Class (-33.8%) falls heavily but ranks #2 ahead of the BMW 5 Series (+9.9%) and Mercedes GLC (-9.5%). The BYD Sealion 7 storms into 5th place with over 800 sales, a new record for a Chinese model in South Korea.

Previous month: South Korea August 2025: Hyundai Avante and Tesla Model Y on top, Kia PV5 lands

One year ago: South Korea September 2024: Renault Grand Koleos up to #12

Full September 2025 Top 31 All brands, Top 61 All domestic models and Top 50 foreign models below.