Tesla Cybertruck Enters South Korea Market

Tesla recently announced that it will launch the Cybertruck electric pickup truck in South Korea. This makes South Korea the fourth market for this model and the first market outside of North America. Currently, the Cybertruck is only sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Despite Tesla accepting global pre-orders for the Cybertruck when it was launched in 2019, the company has never confirmed plans to release this model outside of North America.

The models launched in South Korea this time will include both an all-wheel drive (AWD) version and a high-performance Cyberbeast version, with estimated ranges of 520 kilometers and 496 kilometers respectively. As certification by Korean government agencies is still underway, the actual range may vary.

Image Source: Tesla

Tesla Korea stated, "Since its debut in 2019, the Cybertruck has attracted a large number of pre-orders in Korea. It is not just a simple pickup truck, but a high-end recreational electric vehicle that continuously raises people's expectations. The first deliveries in Korea are scheduled to take place after the end of November."

Tesla has notified reservation holders in South Korea on social media platform X that they need to confirm their order information within the next week, as the company is about to initiate the process of converting reservations into formal orders. This move marks Tesla's first such sales initiative outside of North America since entering the Canadian and Mexican markets last year.

Choosing South Korea as the first stop for the Cybertruck outside North America may seem surprising at first— the market is small and the distance is far— but Tesla enjoys exceptional popularity in South Korea. In July, Tesla's monthly sales in South Korea set a new record, exceeding 7,000 vehicles. In addition, Tesla has a very strong shareholder base in South Korea.

In South Korea, the starting price of the Cybertruck is 145 million won, approximately $104,000, which is about $24,000 higher than its price in the United States. Although Tesla is very popular in the Korean market, the high pricing is likely to make large-scale sales difficult to achieve.

The Tesla Cybertruck model has accumulated over one million pre-orders and plans to produce 250,000 units annually. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, has also stated that the annual production capacity could be increased to 500,000 units.

However, when Tesla finally announced the mass-produced model, the price was much higher than initially announced, and the range was significantly reduced, leading to a sharp decline in market demand for this vehicle. Currently, Tesla is struggling to meet the annual sales target of 25,000 Cybertrucks.

Due to the impending expiration of the U.S. electric vehicle tax credit policy at the end of September, consumers have concentrated their purchases in advance, and it is expected that Cybertruck sales will improve this quarter. However, starting from October, the model is expected to face greater difficulties in the North American market.