Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
Han Sung Motor targets younger motorists
Han Sung Motor CEO Ulf Ausprung speaks during a press conference at the Westin Chosun Hotel in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. Ausprung said the largest dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea will target the growing number of young people who seek to drive imported premium vehicles. / Courtesy of Han Sung Motor
By Lee Hyo-sik
By Lee Hyo-sik
Han Sung Motor, the largest dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea (MBK), will seek to target young Korean motorists looking to purchase imported luxury vehicles next year, said the company CEO Wednesday.
Founded in 1985, the dealer plans to more aggressively market SUVs in line with MBK’s 2016 strategy to capitalize on this rapidly growing segment.
“Given that the age of our customers is getting younger, we will do more to cater to this segment,” said Han Sung Motor CEO Ulf Ausprung during a press conference, Wednesday, to mark the company’s 30th anniversary.
“As part of efforts to attract young motorists, we held our own motor show for the first time this year and introduced other marketing events,” Ausprung said. “In 2016, we will continue to do what we have done this year and add more events to satisfy our younger customers.”
According to Han Sung Motor, which owns a 50 percent stake in MBK, the average age of its buyers stood at 47.9 this year, down from 50.2 in 2011. The company plans to focus on marketing more SUVs as many young motorists prefer them over large-sized sedans.
The CEO said the dealer will continue to invest a substantial amount of money to open more showrooms and customer service centers, as well as hire more workers.
“We expect to sell about 19,000 cars this year, up 20 percent from 2014. We added two new showrooms and one service center this year,” he said. “The number of our employees will reach 1,450 by the year’s end, up 18 percent from 2014. Han Sung will continue to build more facilities and hire workers to improve our customer services.”
Han Sung operates a total of 14 showrooms and 14 service centers across the country.
Ausprung said its sales will grow by up to 13 percent in 2016, adding that the rate of growth will slow in the future as the Korean luxury car market matures.
“The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors (KAIDA) projects that the sales of imported cars will expand about 8 percent next year. But I think we can do better than that. Given the overall economic slowdown, we don’t expect to increase sales as much as we would like to. But our business will continue to remain strong,” the CEO said.
Han Sung has been running its own sales and technical training programs for employees to provide better customer services, Ausprung said, adding that it will foster its used car sales and services businesses to encourage customers to trade their old vehicles in for new ones.
“We have introduced our own fragrance products, and organized a golf tournament and other events to give back to our customers. Han Sung Motor will do its best to serve our clients and share growth with local communities,” he said.
As part of its corporate social responsibility activities, the dealer has been offering scholarships to students from low-income families and supporting others interested in the arts.