Mercedes-Benz beats BMW in monthly sales

By Park Jin-hai

Mercedes-Benz outsold its close rival, BMW, here last month.

The German luxury carmaker sold 3,538 cars, up 45.5 percent from a year earlier.

“This was the firm’s biggest monthly sales ever since it entered the local market,” said Yoon Dae-sung, the association's executive manager of the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.

The new car effect following the series of new C- Class and GLA- Class launches, backed by E- Class’ steady sales, are believed to have pulled up its monthly sales.

Mercedes’ recent sales success was also attributed to its CEO Britta Seeger’s field management. Since she took the helm of the company, she has frequented service centers across the country, to listen to the opinions of employees working in the field.

BMW, which has been the solid top-seller for over three years, came second.

It sold 3,303 last month, more than a 10 percent gain from the previous year, but slightly trailing behind the lead set by Mercedes-Benz.

BMW said that this is temporary. “In September, BMW sold 3,303, but we are still holding the lead in the accumulated sales between January and September," said a BMW spokesman.

"The sales for our best-selling 5 series have been good before August. And our 2015 model comes out in October. There was a time gap in between, and our stock was low. Since we are shipping our new cars this month, we expect that sales will pick up soon.”

It said its annual sales will hit 40,000 for the first time in Korea.

Audi came third in September sales, selling 2,349, followed by Volkswagen, 2,289, and Ford, 733.

For the first nine months of this year, sales of the top four German brands have increased.

Their share in the imported car market reached 71 percent, a 3.5 percent hike from a year earlier.

During the same period, the market share held by Japanese automakers has shrunk to 11.8 percent from 14.6 percent.

In the meantime, 17,027 imported cars were sold in September, a significant gain from 12,668 sold a year earlier, said the association. It is also a 3.6 percent gain from the month before.

For the first nine months of this year, sales of new foreign cars reached 145,844, up 25.6 percent from 116,085 sold for the same period last year.

"The sharp rise comes after the companies successfully launched new vehicles, secured more cars from manufacturers and engaged in aggressive promotional campaigns," the Association said.

This also gives foreign-made cars a market share of 12.2 percent in Korea.