The domestic service networks of imported car brands including Tesla are failing to keep pace with their sales growth, according to a lawmaker's analysis. Critics say swift investment in repair infrastructure is needed because the gap could disrupt after-sales care for consumers.
Rep. Chung Il-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, said on Sept. 30 that Tesla registered 56,147 new vehicles in South Korea in the first half of this year, based on data submitted by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. That marks a 192.1% increase from the same period a year earlier. Tesla's new registrations for all of last year totaled 59,916 vehicles.
The bottleneck is repair infrastructure. Tesla operates 18 directly run service centers nationwide this year. Each center has an average of 17 full-time staff, or 14.8% of the 114.9 employees at an average Hyundai Motor center — about one-seventh the level.
The gap remains wide even counting partner workshops. Tesla runs 37 official service sites in total, comprising 18 directly operated centers and 19 partner facilities, while Hyundai Motor has 1,226 — 22 directly operated centers and 1,204 partner workshops. Hyundai Motor's total footprint is about 33 times larger, leaving Tesla's network at 3.0% of its size.
Dividing Tesla's 59,916 new registrations from last year across its 37 service sites works out to 1,619 vehicles per location. Not every new car immediately requires servicing, but repair demand grows as sales accumulate.
Other importers also showed staffing shortages. Volvo Cars and Polestar Korea each operated 38 service centers, but averaged just 16 full-time staff per site. Toyota Motor Korea assigned an average of 11 workers across 68 centers. Audi and Cadillac averaged eight per center.
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD runs 20 service sites nationwide, all of them partner facilities with no directly operated centers. Its average full-time staffing came to seven per site.
"If service networks and personnel are not expanded in line with the pace of vehicle sales, consumers risk being driven into what is called repair refugee status, waiting indefinitely for repairs when a breakdown or accident occurs," Chung said. "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport must regularly review service centers, repair personnel, waiting times and consumer complaints by manufacturer and importer, and build an after-sales system that matches the rapidly growing adoption of electric vehicles."
