Asia Tech Wire (Oct 9) -- The number of registered electric vehicles imported into South Korea in the past two months has plummeted by 40% compared with the same period last year, according to the latest data.

Statistics released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) on Wednesday showed that there were only 6,868 newly-registered imported electric cars in South Korea, including the Tesla brand, from August to September this year, with 4,115 and 2,753 sold in August and September, respectively.

Compared with 11,462 units in the same period last year, the number of registrations plummeted 40.1% in the last two months.

And it is also after three years that the combined number of new registrations of imported EVs in South Korea for two months has not exceeded 10,000 units.

In terms of sales of imported EVs by brand, Tesla topped the list with 1,349 units registered in September, followed by BMW (454 units), Audi (348 units), Volkswagen (267 units), Porsche (166 units) and Mercedes-Benz (105 units).

In August, Tesla maintained its lead with 2,208 units sold, followed by Volkswagen (911 units), BMW (406 units), Audi (325 units) and Mercedes-Benz (133 units).

Despite holding the top spot in South Korea's imported EV market, the total number of registered Tesla vehicles from August to September this year amounted to 3,557 units, a year-on-year decrease of more than 30%.