Tesla launched orders for the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) in South Korea on Thursday last week, and to say it has been a popular choice among local consumers would be an understatement. By Monday the automaker had racked up more than 13,000 orders for the electric SUV.
The number of orders didn’t come from Tesla themselves, but rather the credit card companies that processed all of the deposits. Referred to by the credit card industry in Korea as the ‘Tesla craze,’ more than ₩40 billion was processed from Tesla between July 14 and July 17. Showing just how much excitement there was for the new Model Y variant, an official from the country’s electronic payment agency PG told Naver that approximately ₩35 billion of that was processed on the first day of orders alone. (via @Tslachan)
When you take into account that the deposit for the Model Y RWD was ₩3 million (~C$3,100/US$2,400), that equates to more than 13,000 orders in just four days. With orders continuing to flow in, unofficial reports have already put that number above 15,000. To put that number into perspective, Tesla sold 14,571 cars in South Korea in all of 2022, meaning Tesla just eclipsed their entire volume from last year in less than one week.
Part of the reason the Model Y RWD has proven to be so popular is its price point. According to the online configurator the Model Y RWD starts at ₩56,990,000 (C$59,000/US$45,100), allowing it to qualify for Korean government and local government subsidies, reducing the price even further.
While there was good news on the Model Y front, that was not the case for the Model 3. On the same day orders for the Model Y RWD was launched, Tesla stopped taking orders for all Model 3 variants in Korea. No date for when they will open up orders again was provided, and customers are only able to sign up for notifications on future developments.
