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German brands reached their targets in Korea, what will they do for the 4Q?

  • 기사입력 2013.10.09 20:46
  • 최종수정 2014.05.15 10:37
  • 기자명 신승영

[AutoDaily] The German  brands in Korea beating their sales targets for 2013, they are now in the process increasing their sales growth to a higher level than expected for the remainder of the year.
 
The German brands BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Audi have all increased by up to 26.6%(this year until September) compared to last year at the same time. In total they sold 76,894 vehicles and their market share in Korea has increased from 63.4% to 66.2% of the import market.
 
It seems that these four manufacturers have achieved their goals for the year but they will need to focus on managing shortages of their top selling models, inventory on the rest of the line-ups and focus on year-end sales promotions.
 
Here is a breakdown of all the manufacturer's fourth quarter
 
■ BMW to launch new 5 series
 
Compared to 2011, 2012's BMW sales increased 20.9 percent, 28,152 vehicles sold.
 
This year in February, Kim Hyo-jun who is president of BMW Korea said that the sales target for this year is 30,000 vehicles and they will be focusing on reinforcing internal organization plus expanding their service network.
 
As he said, BMW sold 25,088 vehicles, 16.4% up to September this year compared to last year at the same time. Therefore, BMW expects to sell over 32,000 vehicles by the end of 2013.
 
What's peculiar thing is that the 5 Series, their main model, converted to the new model year in September so sales decreased a bit at that period.
 
The 5 Series was on sale until August with up to 10% discounts to get rid of last years line-up.
 
The new 5 Series that was released had over a thousand bookings in a week by the 25th September. At the beginning of this month, it has already contracted over 1,500 vehicles and has already caused a shortage. The new 2013 BMW Gran Turismo released in the 5 Series also had over 500 bookings.
 
Some of the BMW dealers have a plan to promote the 5 Series with a 2 million discount which is expected to increase sales. With all these sales BMW might face a car shortage in Korea around December.
 
■ Volkswagen Golf, already out-of-stock.
 
Volkswagen's sales have been pretty much at the same level as last with 46.7%, 18,511 vehicles sold. Last year they were at 47.9%, 18,395 vehicles sold for the same time period.
 
Volkswagen's sales target for 2013 is 23,000 vehicles (it will be 35% percent up from last year) and if they keep improving, they will exceed their planned goal. But the problem they face is in their stock. If consumers want to buy a popular color on a model it will take 4 or 5 months for it to be delivered, so consumers will have to wait until it's ready. Now the 2013 Golf is in a 2000 order backlog.
 
Park Dong-hun who was the former president of Volkswagen Korea, who recently to a new position for Renault Samsung, stated that he expects to sell over 5,000 Golf's this year. They have already sold 4,430 Golf's up until September. (1.6 TDI BlueMotion 1,907 vehicles, 2.0 TDI 2,523 vehicles sold)
 
The 2013 Polo and 2012 Tiguan are also on backorder. Except for the Volkswagen Passat that is manufactured in the United States, most of the cars are out of stock.
 
So Volkswagen dealers don't want to sell with discounts or have promotions.
 
■ Audi has expanded the sales network
 
Audi's sales target for this year was 16,000 vehicles.-( last year:15,126 sold)
 
Audi Korea have a 46.2% increase in sales over last year even though they don't have enough service centers. So they have an increasing number of complaints from customers who have bought an Audi.
 
Johannes Thammer who is president for Audi Korea said they are preparing a program called 'Audi 4 Quality' which will reinforce A/S and satisfy their customers.
-This year up until September : 30.8% up, 14,711 vehicles sold.
 
Audi's main model the A6 has decreased with 1,800 fewer sales than last year. This has to do with the higher sales of the Mercedes-benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series. The A8 has also been effected with decrease in sales from it rivals who have aggressive promotions running.
 
The Audi Quattro and the SUV line-up has been increasing in sales along with the new Audi A5 Sportback which is becoming popular since its release in January of this year.
 
On top of that they have 9 new showrooms opening across Korea this month, so Audi's sales network will be stronger than before.
 
■ Mercedes-benz Korea is loved by younger people.
 
Britta Seeger who is president of Mercedes-Benz Korea expected to sell 21,400 vehicles, which is a 5% increase over last year(20,389 sold, 4.4%).
 
Fortunately, Mercedes-Benz have so far increased 21.3%, 18,584 vehicles sold. So, they are expecting more sales(over 24,000) until the end of the year.
 
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the new E-Class model released this year are being loved by the younger generation.
 
Especially, Diesel model's sales have increased
- E300(4,018 vehicles sold)
- E220 CDI(3,407 vehicles sold)
- E250 CDI 4MATIC(1,197 vehicles sold)
 
The Diesel models are becoming more popular with customers, but they are creating a shortage of products.
 
The 2013 Benz S Class which will come out in either November or December this year is expecting to have great sales.
 
 

By Shin Seungyoung.
(translate by Lee Jeonghwa)

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