A total of 723 units under the Maserati brand were sold in South Korea in 2014, up 469 percent compared to a year earlier. (image credit: Kobiz Media)
Italian luxury car maker Maserati S.p.A.’s Ghibli S Q4 (L) and the Quattroporte Diesel are put on display during a media event held in Seoul on Feb. 12, 2015. (photo courtesy of Maserati)
The leap in numbers comes as overall sales of foreign-made vehicles are also creeping up to capture a larger share in the South Korean car market.
Imported cars accounted for 13.92 percent of the local market last year, up from the 12.1 percent logged in the previous year, according to data compiled by Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. Compared to just five years before when foreign brands’ market share stood at 4.94 percent, their portion has more than doubled.
South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. has been doing its part to raise competitiveness in the luxury car segment, with lineups including its Equus full-size sedan and the Genesis out in the market. However, it has yet to be viewed as an upscale brand among locals here, who instead look to imported brands as a sign of wealth and status.
For instance, the Aslan front-wheel drive, Hyundai’s most recent attempt to compete against imported cars, did not wow domestic customers as the South Korean carmaker had hoped it would.
The car, benchmarked on the Lexus ES 350, had emphasized a so-called “premium comfort” as a means to persuade customers back from sports-tuned German cars with stiff rides, but last year’s sales of the newly-introduced model came to just 2,551 units, far behind the goal of 6,000 units Hyundai had aimed for.
Maserati, on the other hand, is pushing to further build up its client list by expanding its lineups into a whole new segment, with plans to launch its Levante luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV) later in 2016.
Maserati dismissed concerns that the entry into a new segment, in addition to the soaring sales of the Maserati models, may be considered less enticing to customers who choose its cars for their exclusivity. The name will nonetheless “remain a luxury,” Cazzoli said.
