Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
Mercedes marketing chief says Korea is crucial market
Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid and AMG models, featuring intelligent drive features are parked for test-drive, at KINTEX, Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. / Yonhap
By Park Jin-hai
By Park Jin-hai
Mercedes-Benz held a workshop here on the car maker’s Intelligent Drive package, Tuesday.
The presentation introduced its smart features, which make the pillars of autonomous driving, including steering assist Distronic Plus, which keeps vehicles in the center lane of traffic and adjusts steering automatically, and cross traffic assists BAS Plus, which spots danger at junctions and warns drivers.
It held a test-drive event to show the technological advances the automaker has made in the field of safe and connected driving.
The company says that Korea is an important market as a test bed for technological innovations, said visiting German brand’s marketing chief.
“Korean market is very important to Mercedes-Benz. It is one of our top 10 markets around the world,” said Ola Kallenius, sales & marketing head for Mercedes-Benz Cars, during the Intelligent Drive Workshop, at KINTEX, Ilsan, Tuesday.
“One thing I think that signifies this market is that we have very educated and demanding customers are technology oriented. So if you who are successful in Korea, you can be successful in other parts of the world. It is a market that we focus on,” he said.
Mercedes-Benz recorded double-digit growth worldwide, with almost 13 percent growth last year. But its sales growth in Korea has been outperforming the global average, said Kallenius.
“Last year was a phenomenal year for Mercedes-Benz with a worldwide double digit growth… Korea plays a very big part in this growth, an almost incredible 46.8 percent growth in the Korean market last year. Korea is the No.3 market for the E-class worldwide and No.5 for the s-class,” he said stressing the importance of Korean market within the German automotive group.
“It continues on the same successful fashion as last year, with a 14 percent growth worldwide during the first four months of 2015 and again Korea is outperforming..coming off to a strong 2015 with almost unbelievable growth of another 35 percent in the first four months of this year,” he added.
He attributed the huge success to the broad portfolio it has introduced here. He said the current 17 lineups will expand to 20 by 2020, giving diverse choices to Korean customers.
“Mercedes believes that the large portfolio that appeals to a broader range of customers is the one of the foundations for our growth in the years to come,” he said. “We launched a whole range of new attractive products in the Korean market last year to build this growth. And the good news is that story continues. We have the very full pipeline of new products and six of those will be launched in the market this year. Some of them were already launched and some of them are around the corner.”
Asked about the German car maker’s effort to fend off its “old” drivers image, Kallenius said the company has been opening up the brand for younger generations.
“It is very important for us to open up the brand for young people. With the new styling we introduced a couple years ago, especially with the compacts, when we look at those parts worldwide… It’s new, fashionable, sporty and it’s fun to drive. So we are changing and making the old Mercedes brand younger,” he said.
As for its cooperation with Korean firms including LG Electronics in automotive driving, he said the cooperation with Korean firms will continue in the future.
“There is a very strong supply network in Korea. Some of them are expanding activities in Europe and other places around the world … Korea is very much on our radar screen in terms of looking for technology partners. It is a high tech country and part of thriving technological development. Mercedes-Benz will continue to cooperate with all other Korean companies in the future.”
Introducing the carmaker’s three mega trends ― zero emission, zero accident and connectivity ― Kallenius said zero accident has been the area that Mercedes has been always leading ahead of its rivals. “Out of the three mega trends, what we have been always leading is zero accident. That is one of the core values of Mercedes Benz,” he added.