This photo, provided by BMW Korea, shows the all-new 7 Series sedan.
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of BMW’s flagship 7 Series in South Korea plummeted two months after being released, data showed Tuesday, as it has failed to unseat Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class as the top-sellling imported flagship sedan.
According to Carisyou Data Lab, the German automaker sold 91 units of full-size luxury sedan in January, down 62.6 percent compared to 243 units in December, when it was released.
The primary factor behind the plunge in sales of BMW’s flagship sedan was weak automobile demand resulting from a string of interest rate hikes last year.
In fact, the overall sales of import cars slipped to 15,901 units in January, down 46 percent compared to a month earlier.
In particular, flagship sedans with a higher share of lease contracts are more vulnerable to interest rate hikes.
Mercedes-Benz sold 731 units of flagship S-Class sedan in January, down 21.8 percent from 930 units in December. This figure, however, is far better than what the BMW 7 Series recorded.
In the import car sales ranking, the S-Class was positioned at No. 5, dwarfing the 7 Series that was ranked at No. 35.
In the flagship sedan market, where symbolism matters, the two-year-old S-Class remained more desirable than the newly-released 7 Series.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
