Chinese automaker XPeng is recruiting a country manager for South Korea, accelerating preparations to enter a market where Tesla and BYD are already competing for a fast-growing new energy vehicle (NEV) buyer base.
The LinkedIn posting calls for a senior executive to build XPeng‘s Korean subsidiary from scratch.
The position oversees market strategy, distributor management, product localization, sales expansion, brand development, government relations, and after-sales operations in Korea.
Earlier Certification Hire
The country manager posting follows XPeng‘s earlier recruitment of an automotive certification manager for the Korean market, a role first reported by South Korean outlet Star News last March.
That posting required a minimum of eight years of experience in product certification, market access or regulatory compliance in the Korean market.
The certification role focused on navigating Korea’s vehicle homologation process — handling certification documents, managing mileage certification and battery safety inspections, and liaising with government authorities.
According to Star News, the listing also emphasized localizing XPeng‘s AI-based autonomous driving system, XNGP, and its 800V fast-charging architecture for Korea’s urban road environment and charging infrastructure regulations
Corporate Groundwork
The subsidiary ‘XPeng Motors Korea’ was established on June 23, 2025, in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, with initial capital of 150 million won ($104,000), according to South Korean corporate filings.
Roadtesting were also reported near Yeongjong Island, Incheon, around the same period.
Vice Chairman and Co-President Brian Gu hinted at the South Korean expansion in November 2025, describing the country as a good EV market but also a complicated one.
Gu said at the time that XPeng was still in the preparation phase and evaluating timing, adding that the company was open to collaborating with local partners as part of its strategy for the market.
Xpng Asian markets
South Korea would extend an Asian network that XPeng has built steadily since 2024.
The company already sells vehicles in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia — a seven-market footprint anchored primarily by the G6 crossover and the X9 MPV.
Hong Kong and Singapore were among the earliest entries, with the G6 emerging as a strong-selling pure-electric SUV in both cities;
In Malaysia, where both the G6 and X9 are offered, XPeng has also set up local assembly of both models.
Indonesia had also followed a similar localization path — Erajaya Group launched knock-down assembly of the X9 at a Purwakarta facility in 2025.
Thailand has become one of XPeng‘s wider Southeast Asian markets, with outlets spanning Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya.
Cambodia marked the newest addition when XPeng entered in October 2025 with six models — its broadest overseas portfolio at any single-market launch — through local partner NSPENG, with deliveries beginning the following month.
It was the first market where the company offered its Mona series besides China, where the Mona M03 became a best-seller since launching in August 2024.
XPeng‘s global network has already reached 65 markets, following the global launch of the Mona L03 sport utility vehicle on July 16 in Munich — the first time the brand debuted a model across the world simultaneously.
The L03 is XPeng‘s first global-native model, priced at €35,600 in Germany and 123,800 yuan ($17,000) in China.
A Competitive Market
South Korea is currently one of Tesla’s most important export markets.
Tesla registered 56,139 vehicles in the first half of 2026, capturing a 30.5% share of the country’s imported passenger car market and positioning itself as the best-selling overseas brand.
Second-quarter deliveries reached 35,175 units, a 144% year-over-year increase and the company’s strongest quarter ever in the country.
The first-half total already represented 93.7% of Tesla‘s full-year 2025 volume.
Electric vehicles accounted for 45.5% of all imported car registrations in South Korea during the first half, up from 23.5% a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA).
In June alone, EVs crossed the halfway mark for the first time, reaching 51.1% of imported vehicle sales.
BYD registered 11,675 vehicles in the first half, an 807.9% surge from a year earlier, expanding its import market share from 0.9% to 6.3%.
The Shenzhen-based automaker reached 10,000 cumulative sales in just 11 months — the fastest any imported brand has achieved that milestone in the country.
Subsidies
South Korea raised its maximum EV purchase subsidy to 6.8 million won ($4,700) for 2026 and eliminated consumption and acquisition taxes on battery-electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles.
The price cap for subsidy eligibility stands at 53 million won ($36,800) this year but will drop to 50 million won ($34,700) in 2027.
However, South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment excluded BYD from its EV subsidy programme for the second half of 2026, stripping the automaker of government purchase incentives in one of its fastest-growing export markets.
The subsidy exclusion came under revised criteria that now weigh a company’s contribution to the domestic supply chain, technological development capabilities, sustainability of after-sales service and safety management record — factors that could also shape the regulatory environment XPeng faces as it prepares to enter.
Geely-backed Zeekr established its own Korean subsidiary in March 2025 and had planned showroom openings in the second half of that year, though certification delays — a challenge Star News flagged in its reporting on XPeng‘s own hiring — have complicated the timeline for some Chinese entrants.
