SEOUL: Tesla Korea has come under fire for failing to provide sufficient after-sales service, with zero efforts to give back to local society despite being on pace to hit its all-time annual sales record in South Korea this year.
According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, Tesla sold 47,962 cars from January to October, up 92.8% from the same period last year.
The US electric vehicle (EV) giant has experienced enormous growth in South Korea over the past five years, as it logged 11,826 vehicles sold in 2020, 14,571 sold in 2022 and 29,754 sold last year.
Although Tesla has cemented itself as the No. 3 auto importer in South Korea behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the number of service centes it operates in the country is far less than the German automakers.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz run 81 and 74 official service centres in South Korea, respectively, while Tesla only offers 14 service centres, which is on the same level as Chinese EV maker BYD, which entered the South Korean market only about 10 months ago.
Of Tesla’s service centres in South Korea, eight are located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, leaving major cities and provinces such as Daejeon, Ulsan and the Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces with no aftercare facilities.
The lack of service centres has surfaced with the recent outbreak of the failing battery management system, or BMS, in Tesla models and their owners having to endure lengthy periods of waiting time.
According to Tesla Korea’s BMS repair logs submitted to Rep Park Yong-gap of the Democratic Party of Korea, there were 4,637 BMS repair cases between August 2020 and Sept 17 of this year.
The lawmaker’s office revealed that the average amount of time it took for the repair work to be completed was 23.4 days.
The BMS is regarded as the brain of an EV, monitoring the battery’s voltage and temperature for optimal performance and alerting the driver in case of anomalies.
The lawmaker pointed out that Tesla’s infrastructure for repairs is nowhere near sufficient, despite the number of registered Tesla cars surpassing 100,000 in South Korea. — The Korea Herald/ANN
