Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Can Mercedes-Benz fend off challenge from BMW?
Two German luxury auto brands compete hard for top spot in 2022
By Baek Byung-yeul
Han Sang-yun, CEO of BMW Korea / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
Mercedes-Benz and BMW are fiercely competing for the most-selling overseas car brand title in the Korean market. To make the year 2022 their year, the two brands said Sunday that they will focus on launching new models that are more luxurious with better performance.
According to recent data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), Mercedes-Benz sold 7,717 cars to top the list in October, followed by BMW with 6,754.
Mercedes-Benz seems to have surpassed BMW, but things are different when considered on a yearly basis as BMW sold 64,504 from January to October, slightly more than Mercedes-Benz with 63,791. In percentage terms, BMW and Mercedes-Benz had similar market shares of 28.6 percent and 28.3 percent, respectively.
When asked about their sales target for the last two months of the year, both officials from the two German luxury brands didn't share the specific figure, but answered that they are scheduled to launch high-priced models to attract luxury car buyers.
Thomas Klein, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea / Yonhap
“Our primary goal is to deliver more value to our customers. In line with that goal, the S-Class luxury sedan has been loved by Korean consumers a lot this year and the E-Class sedan also performed great. In addition, we are also scheduled to launch the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 before the end of this year,” a Mercedes Benz Korea spokesman said.
“Throughout this year, we have tried to minimize supply disruption issues. If you take a look at our monthly sales records, we didn't have a bumpy record of selling a lot in some months and selling less in some months. These numbers prove that we have been stably supplying our cars to our customers,” a BMW Korea spokesman said adding that the company will launch its new 7 Series model as well as the BMW i7, an electric car version of the 7 Series, at the end of this year.
It remains to be seen whether BMW can overtake Mercedes-Benz in terms of the best-selling overseas car brand.
The EQS electric car by Mercedes-Benz / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea
Though BMW had been the top in the Korean market for seven straight years from 2009 to 2015, Mercedes-Benz took over the spot in 2016 and dominated the country's imported car market for six consecutive years until last year, mainly thanks to the soaring popularity of its E-Class sedan.
BMW's electric SUV iX / Courtesy of BMW Korea
Mercedes-Benz has been top in the Korean market for six straight years ― from 2016 to 2021. In comparison to Mercedes-Benz, BMW has shown its edge with its SUV models such as the X3, the X5 and the X7.