Mercedes-Benz steps up Korea push with 10 vehicle launches
Mercedes-Benz will launch 10 models in the Korean market this year — part of its largest rollout ever — as it steps up competition in the country’s luxury car segment.
In its push toward electrification, the company said it will unveil four new models developed on next-generation platforms — the all-new electric and hybrid CLA sedans, the all-new electric GLC SUV and the all-new electric GLB SUV— alongside six facelifted versions of its premium and SUV models.
According to Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Mathias Vaitl, this year’s launch marks the start of “the biggest product launch program in Mercedes-Benz’s history,” announced last year, highlighting Korea’s strategic importance in the German automaker’s expansion strategy outside Europe.
Celebrating the brand’s 140th anniversary this year — when founder Carl Benz patented the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1886, widely known as the world’s first gasoline-powered automobile — Mercedes-Benz Korea will introduce special-edition versions of newly launched and high-end vehicles.
By the first half of this year, the Korean unit will also roll out a new sales model called “Retail of the Future.” Under the system, inventories and pricing schemes previously controlled by individual dealers will be unified, allowing customers to purchase vehicles under the same conditions nationwide.
Having already implemented the retail model in 12 countries, including Germany, the UK and Sweden, the company said it has received enhanced feedback on customer satisfaction, price transparency and service consistency.
Last year, Mercedes-Benz’s sales volume in Korea increased 3.1 percent to 68,467 units, primarily driven by portfolio diversification centered on the “ultra-premium” segment.
The Maybach SL, Mercedes-AMG CLE Coupe and Cabriolet, Mercedes-AMG SL 43, and E 53 Hybrid 4MATIC+ posted combined growth of approximately 36 percent. Sales of the carmaker’s flagship G-Class also jumped 25 percent to 3,289 units, while the E-Class sold 28,731 units, ranking first among imported internal combustion engine vehicles.
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