South Korea May 2026: Tesla Model Y first foreign model to top charts outright

The Tesla Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in South Korea in May.

New car sales in South Korea stumble -10.2% year-on-year in May to just 126,955 units. However it would have been worse without the help of foreign manufacturers, up 5.9% to 23.5% share whereas domestics ones drop -14.3% to 76.5% of their home market. Year-to-date, the market is now up just 1% to 686,008 units including 540,054 domestic manufacturers (-5.1%) and 145,954 foreigners (+32.3%).

Kia (-0.9%) celebrates 5 consecutive months at #1 with 35.2% share, confirming its newfound dominance over sister brand Hyundai (-20.7%) at only 30.9%. Kia now has a whopping 22,105-unit advantage over Hyundai year-to-date. Tesla (+65.4%) continues to stun, selling over 10,000 units for the third month in a row. BMW (+2.3%) passes a freefalling Genesis (-35.3%) for fourth place. Audi (+47.7%) and Lexus (+13.8%) defy the negative market with splendid YoY gains. BYD (+101.2%) slides outside the Top 10 at #12 but still doubles its sales year-on-year.

Looking at domestic models, the Kia Sorento (+1.3%) delivers an 8th win in the past 9 months, outselling the Hyundai Grandeur (+12.7%) like last month. The Kia Sportage (-10.1%) matches the market and is back up three spots on last month to #3, whereas the Kia Carnival (-31.7%) and Hyundai Avante (-29.7%) both implode. Excellent performance by the Kia EV3 (+61.9%), lodging a 4th straight Top 10 finish. The new Renault Korea Filante seems to have already peaked, down 9 ranks on last month to #31.

As for foreign nameplates, the Tesla Model Y (+40.5%) delivers a historic result: at 8,762 sales it is simply #1 in the overall market including domestic models. It is simply the first time we have ever seen a foreign model top the South Korean charts. Ever (at least since Korean manufacturers were born). The BMW 5 Series (-1.5%) is back above the Tesla Model 3 (+294.2%) with the Mercedes E Class (-45.3%) and BMW X3 (+33.9%) rounding out the Top 5. At #6, the new BYD Sealion 7 manages a 9th straight Top 10 finish.

Previous month: South Korea April 2026: Tesla and BYD break records

One year ago: South Korea May 2025: Hyundai Palisade breaks records in stable market

Full May 2026 Top 30 All brands, Top 55 All domestic models and Top 50 foreign models below.