US electric carmaker Tesla Motors ranked third in first-quarter sales in South Korea’s imported passenger vehicle market on strong demand for the Model 3, an industry association said.

In the January-March period, Tesla sold a total of 4,070 vehicles in the Korean imported car market, following Mercedes-Benz (15,400) and BMW (11,331), according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Tesla’s sales jumped to 2,499 units in March from 1,433 in February and 138 in January helped by robust sales of the Model 3, the data showed. (Yonhap)