South Korea June 2026: BYD smashes records

The BYD Dolphin is the 2nd best-selling foreign model in South Korea in June.

The South Korean new light vehicle market is up by a robust 9.5% year-on-year in June to 159,348 units. This is divided into 121,289 units (+3%) for local carmakers and 38,059 (+37%) for foreigners. The H1 2026 tally is up 2.5% to 845,356, including 661,343 domestic brands (-3.7%) and 184,013 foreigners (+33.2%). Kia (+18.7%) has now been the #1 brand at home for 6 straight months, having established its dominance over sister brand Hyundai (-2.5%) in difficulty again. Kia is almost 27,000 units ahead of Hyundai YTD, which should ensure a Full Year victory. In third place for the 5th straight month, Tesla continues to shine with sales up 74.4% to 7% share and above the 10,000 unit-mark for the 4th month in a row. BYD (+2014.5%) smashes its records to #7 with 4,652 sales and 2.9% share (Previous best was reached last April at #9 with 2,023 sales and 1.3% share).

In the local models ranking, the Hyundai Grandeur (+80.4%) soars to pole position for the first time this year, dislodging the Kia Sorento (+8.1%) which remains the faraway YTD leader. The Kia Seltos (+31.1%) is up seven spots on May to #3, the nameplate’s first podium finish after 84 months in market. Its previous best was #4 hit in September 2019 and October 2024. The Carnival (-6.7%) and Sportage (-2.9%) ensure there are four Kia models in the Top 5. The Kia EV5 is the most popular recent launch and repeats at a record #13. The Tesla Model Y (+49.1%) once again obliterates the foreign models charts with over 9,000 sales. The event of the month is the arrival at #2 of the BYD Dolphin (+35 spots on last month), with the BMW 5 Series (+0.5%), Mercedes E Class (-18.5%) and GLC (-20.8%) rounding out the Top 5. BYD also places the Sealion 7 at #6 and the Atto 3 at #14.

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

One year ago: South Korea June 2025: Kia Sorento and Hyundai Avante on top

Full June 2026 Top 30 All brands, Top 52 All local models and Top 50 foreign models below.