Tesla Drops in Sales Rankings Due to 'Battery Defect'... BMW and Mercedes-Benz Take Top Two Spots

Imported Car Registrations in October Total 24,064 Units
Down 26.7% Month-on-Month

Tesla, which has faced complaints from some consumers regarding 'battery defect issues,' dropped to third place in the imported car sales rankings last month.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, Tesla registered 4,350 new vehicles in October, a 52% decrease compared to the previous month. The company's ranking among manufacturers fell from first place in the previous month to third place.

This issue, known as the 'BMS_a079' error, restricts the maximum charge level to 50% when the vehicle detects abnormal high-voltage charging. As a result, the available driving range can drop to around 50 kilometers, and there have been cases where the vehicle has stopped completely.

According to data provided by Tesla Korea at the request of Assemblyman Park Sanghyuk's office from the Democratic Party, there were 4,637 cases of BMS errors reported in 4,351 Tesla vehicles in Korea since 2017.

Among imported cars, BMW reclaimed the top spot with 6,177 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 5,838 units. Volvo recorded 1,435 units, Lexus 1,226 units, BYD 824 units, Toyota 813 units, Audi 689 units, MINI 657 units, Porsche 594 units, and Polestar 286 units.

In addition, Land Rover sold 259 units, Ford 216 units, Volkswagen 143 units, and Jeep 127 units.

The number of newly registered imported passenger cars in October was 24,064, down 26.7% compared to September. The cumulative number of registrations from January to October reached 249,412 units, a 15.5% increase from 215,980 units during the same period last year.

By country of origin, Europe accounted for 16,283 units (67.7%), the United States 4,831 units (20.1%), Japan 2,126 units (8.8%), and China 824 units (3.4%). By fuel type, hybrid vehicles accounted for 14,389 units (59.8%), electric vehicles 6,922 units (28.8%), gasoline vehicles 2,619 units (10.9%), and diesel vehicles 134 units (0.6%).

The best-selling models were the Tesla Model Y Long Range (2,424 units), Mercedes-Benz E 200 (1,383 units), and BMW 520 (1,308 units). Jung Younyoung, Vice President of the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, explained, "The decrease compared to the previous month was due to fewer business days during the Chuseok holiday."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.