Tesla has drawn more consumer redress requests than any other automaker in South Korea's electric vehicle market. The gap reflects a mismatch: sales have climbed sharply, led by a lower-priced Model Y built in China that has pushed Tesla's share of the imported passenger car market above 30%, while its repair network and technician ranks have expanded far more slowly.
Tesla Korea faced 52 EV-related consumer redress requests between 2023 and August of this year, according to data the Korea Consumer Agency submitted to the National Assembly on the 16th. That was the highest total among domestic and foreign automakers, exceeding the combined figures for Hyundai Motor (005380) at 28 and Kia (000270) at 22.
Consumer redress is a dispute resolution procedure in which the Korea Consumer Agency investigates the facts or seeks expert opinions and then recommends a settlement to both sides, after a consumer and a company fail to reach a voluntary agreement over a product defect or a contract issue.
Analysts attribute the complaints to the slow buildout of repair facilities and staffing relative to the jump in sales. Buoyed by strong Model Y demand, Tesla sold 89,148 vehicles in Korea from January through September, more than double the figure for the same period a year earlier. Its share of the imported car market reached 31.9%.
Tesla, by contrast, operates just 18 directly run service centers nationwide. Including partner shops, the total comes to only 37. Hyundai Motor has 1,226 service sites, consisting of 22 company-run centers and 1,204 partner shops, while Kia has 767, made up of 17 company-run centers and 750 partner shops.
Staffing is thinner as well. Each Tesla service center has an average of 17 full-time workers, one-seventh of Hyundai Motor's 114.9.
Counting only the vehicles Tesla has sold this year, each repair center takes on 2,409 newly registered cars, industry officials said, arguing that the company needs to expand its service network more aggressively to ease inconvenience for owners.
"Right now the cars are new, so repair demand is low and the network can handle it to some degree," an industry official said. "But in just four or five years there is a strong chance of problems with batteries and other parts, so the service network needs to be expanded aggressively."