China has overthrown Germany as the largest electric vehicle exporter to Korea amid the increasing popularity of “Made-in-China” electric buses and Tesla cars, Korea JoongAng Daily reports, citing the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) data.
China’s EV exports – Monthly and YTD
China’s electric vehicle exports to Korea reached about $172 million in October, indicating a significant lead over Germany’s total imports of $70.4 million.
In the January to October 2023 period, Made-in-China electric vehicles hit a whopping 1.9 billion. It indicates a notable 23.3% year-on-year growth, KITA data revealed.
In hindsight, China initially snatched the “Korea’s top exporter” crown from Germany in August. Since then, Germany trailed behind the world’s largest auto market through the past three months.
China’s lead demonstrates rapid advancement, as it only landed fifth in 2021 and third in 2022 for annual sales.
Tesla’s role
According to the report, Tesla’s top-selling Model Y from Gigafactory Shanghai significantly boosted Made-in-China exports to Korea.
The Korea Automobile & Mobility Association revealed that Tesla’s sales hit a total of 4,501 units in September. It indicates a more than sixfold growth from its 696 unit sales in August. In October, it declined to 2,829 units.
Cheaper and safer lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries gained major traction in September, substantially reducing Tesla’s production costs by at least 20 million won ($15,350) per vehicle. In that sense, Chinese suppliers currently dominate over 90% of the LFP battery industry.
Growing popularity of commercial vehicles
Korea JoongAng Daily also asserted, citing CarIsYou data, that Chinese electric truck exports reached about 2,300 units in the first ten months of the year.
In addition, nearly 50% of all active electric buses across the country were from China, including BYD models from Shenzhen.
In effect, Korea had more than 513.2 million dollars in trade deficits in Jan-October 2023. Remarkably, this figure represents a hundredfold growth from the 2018 record of 4.87 million dollars.
