This file photo offered by Mercedes-Benz Korea shows the new EQS SUV displayed at a press conference held at Grand Hyatt Seoul in central Seoul.
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Mercedes-Benz Korea said Wednesday it will further strengthen its electric vehicle lineup in coming years to cement its leading status in the Korean imported passenger vehicle market.
On Tuesday, the German carmaker launched the all-electric EQS SUV built on its new EVA2 platform for Korean customers and will introduce the EQE SUV later this year, the company said in a statement.
Mercedes-Benz Korea sold more than 80,000 vehicles last year and six percent of them were battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Korea has emerged as Mercedes-Benz’s fourth-biggest passenger car market.
“We will significantly raise the ratio of EVs in the product lineup depending on market development (or demands),” Johannes Schoen, vice president in charge of product, marketing & digital business at Mercedes-Benz Korea, told reporters.
In its electrification push, Mercedes-Benz Korea launched the new EQA SUV and the new EQS sedan in 2021, following the launch of its first pure electric model, the EQC 400 4MATIC SUV, in 2019.
Last year, the company added three BEVs, including the new EQB SUV, the new EQE sedan, and the new Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ sedan, all under its all-electric brand Mercedes-EQ.
Mercedes-Benz Korea topped the local imported car market in 2022 for the seventh straight year on growing demand for high-end and environment friendly cars.
The company sold 80,976 vehicles in 2022, up from 76,152 units a year ago, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA).
In efforts to woo customers, Mercedes-Benz opened Korea’s first and the world’s seventh AMG Brand Center, which allows visitors to experience the high-performance brand Mercedes-AMG, in 2021.
The company said it will also strengthen its digital sales platform that helps customers purchase its vehicles, as well as receive after-sales services.
For all of 2022, the country’s imported car registrations rose 0.6 percent on-year to 283,435 autos, KAIDA said.
(Yonhap)
