EVwire brief: South Korea will stop applying EV purchase subsidies to BYD's vehicles starting in July, after the Chinese automaker's local arm failed a new government screening. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment published the results on June 30.
The screening scores automakers on their domestic contribution, including investment in local infrastructure, and any company that falls below 60 out of 100 loses access to the subsidies, which run from about 1 million to 6 million won (about $645 to $3,873) per vehicle. BYD Korea, a fast-rising newcomer in the market, didn't clear the bar.
BYD is a newcomer to the South Korean auto market, entering the market in January 2025
The same screen produced a notable split at the top of the import market. Tesla Korea, another importer with relatively light domestic investment that had been flagged alongside BYD, passed the evaluation and kept its EV subsidies. In all, 35 manufacturers and importers were assessed and 27 made the cut across passenger, cargo, and van categories. Eight were left out.
On the passenger side, ten companies qualified: the domestic makers Hyundai, Kia, KG Mobility, and Renault Korea, plus importers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen, Polestar, and Tesla. BYD, which only recently pushed into Korea's passenger market and had been gaining ground, is the conspicuous absence.
Tesla Korea was flagged alongside BYD, but the company still met the threshold to maintain its subsidies
Context:
The cutoff stems from an amendment to the subsidy guidelines earlier this year, which tied eligibility to a domestic-contribution score rather than treating every EV seller as an automatic participant in the government program. Companies that came up short can still claim subsidies on applications filed by June 30, so the change only bites from July.
The ministry framed the tightening as a way to steer public money toward building up the country's own EV base.
"We will continue to refine relevant systems so that electric vehicle subsidies, funded by national finances, can contribute more effectively to building a sustainable domestic electric vehicle ecosystem and promoting the use of electric vehicles by the public."
Source: Edaily
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