South Korea September 2026: Tesla Model Y overall leader again, Hyundai Grandeur tops local models

The Tesla Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in South Korea for the third month in a row.

14/10 update: Now with Top 50 foreign models ranking.

The South Korean new light vehicle market continues to perform poorly in September at -14.5% year-on-year to 134,717 units. This is solely due to the weakness of local manufacturers at -20% to 99,813 whereas foreigners gain 6.3% to 34,904. The year-to-date tally is down -2.4% to 1,228,524, with locals off -8.2% to 948,814 and foreigners up a splendid 24.2% to 279,710.

In the brands ranking, Kia (-6.6%) widens the gap with sister brand Hyundai (-23.3%), cementing its YTD leadership at 35.6% share vs. 31.4%. Tesla (+36.4%) is #3 again and reaches its second best ever volume at 12,372 units (record is 13,190 last April) BMW (-8.2%) and Mercedes (-20.7%) round out the Top 5. BYD (+156.3%) surges year-on-year and ranks #7 with 1.9% share, with Polestar (+113%) and Volkswagen (+188.6%) also posting tremendous gains. We welcome Zeekr in the ranking at #23.

Over in the local models ranking, the Hyundai Grandeur (+64.8%) takes the lead for the third time in the past four months while the Hyundai Avante (-4.8%) is back up 17 spots on August to #2. The Kia Sorento (-22.5%), Sportage (-14.3%) and Seltos (+9.2%) follow, with the Sorento keeping the year-to-date lead by a solid margin. The Kia Ray (+5.7%) also defies the negative market at #7, as do the Kia Morning (+39.7%) at #14 and the Kia EV5 (+694.1%) celebrating one year in market at #16.

The Tesla Model Y leads both the foreign and overall rankings with a record 11,421 sales (+36.6%). This is the fourth time the Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in South Korea outright after last May, last July and last month. The Mercedes E Class (-16%) is back up to #2, passing its archenemy the BMW 5 Series (-18.9%) both for the month and YTD. The new BYD Dolphin remains among the best-selling foreigners at #4 while the Mercedes S Class (+78.5%) is up 7 spots on August to round out the Top 5.

Previous month: South Korea August 2026: Tesla Model Y distant leader above Kia Sorento, market off -20.8%

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

Full September 2026 Top 31 All brands, Top 55 All local models and Top 50 foreigners below.