Tesla topped South Korea’s imported car market for the third consecutive month in April, fueled by robust electric vehicle demand amid high fuel prices, industry data showed Thursday.

According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, newly registered imported passenger vehicles came to 33,993 units in April.

US EV maker Tesla ranked first with 13,190 units, maintaining the top position since February. German luxury carmakers followed, with BMW posting 6,658 units and Mercedes-Benz reporting 4,796 units.

China’s leading EV maker BYD came in fourth with 2,023 units, reflecting the growing popularity of EV in the Korean imported car market.

Swedish brand Volvo Cars came in fifth place with 1,105 units, followed by Lexus with 1,079 units, Audi with 918 units, Toyota with 829 units, Mini with 696 units and Porsche with 679 units.

EVs made up the bulk of the share, with 18,319 EVs registered in April, accounting for 53.9 percent of all imported vehicle sales.

The bestselling imported model in April was the Tesla Model Y Premium at 9,328 units, with the Tesla Model 3 Premium Long Range following in second at 1,481 units and the BMW 520 with 1,191 units.

“Sales remained similar to the previous month thanks to strong EV demand and new model launches by some brands,” said Jung Yoon-young, vice chair of KAIDA.

sahn@heraldcorp.com