Foreign brands to expand lineups
By Kim Tae-jong, Park Ji-won
A model poses next to BMW’s new Z4 at the press preview event prior to the Seoul Motor Show at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. / Courtesy of BMW Korea
Imported automakers are gearing up to introduce more vehicles to the local market, filled their exhibition space at the 2013 Seoul Motor Show with new models.
BMW and its sister brand MINI are displaying 26 and 12 cars, respectively, including new ones that will soon be available in Korea.
Among them are the 3 Series Gran Coupe, M6 Gran Coupe, Z4, C Evolution and the 4 Series concept car from BMW, which are Asian premier models. MINI introduced the MINI Paceman, MINI John Cooper Works and MINI Brick Lane Special Edition.
“We will keep pursuing sustainable growth by introducing new models, improving customer services and offering premium ones,” said BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon.
Mercedes-Benz has also taken an advantage of the auto show to introduce two new models in the local market.
It presented the A-Class and the CLA-Class compact cars with the aim of attracting young drivers.
“The two new vehicles are of great importance to Mercedes-Benz here. Mercedes-Benz's clear aim is to keep growing in the Korean market. And in order to do this, we will be offering more and novel products to new customer segments,” said Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Britta Seeger, who took office in March. “We want to sell our car to all generations.”
Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Britta Seeger leans against the automaker’s A Class premium compact car at the press preview event prior to the Seoul Motor Show at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea
She said the price of the A-Class will be in a similar range to the B-Class, expecting the former will be very competitive with its rival BMW’s 1 Series. The B-Class models are available at 39.8 million won and 44.5 million won.
Ford Korea introduced the all new Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and all new Fusion Hybrid, emphasizing their high fuel efficiency.
This is in line with an effort to remove the stereotyped image of American cars, which are often thought of as large gas-guzzlers.
“Ford has been a fast-growing brand, but now is the real beginning,” Ford Korea President and CEO Jae Jung said. “We will lead a quiet but strong change with high fuel efficiency, environmentally-friendly and high performance vehicles.”
Jaguar Land Rover also introduced two new cars ― the all-new Range Rover and the Jaguar F-Type sports car.
For the introduction, Jaguar’s design chief Ian Callum along with Land Rover’s design studio director David Saddington were present at the auto show.
“The F-TYPE is every inch a sports car. It follows the ethos and design philosophy of exciting visual architecture. The interior is very much driver orientated,” Callum said.
Saddington also emphasized that the new Land Rover is a make-over in design for the first time in 10 years with its aluminum construction, which makes it 420 kg lighter than the previous model.