|
|
Other foreign players overtake BMW in Korea
BY A CORRESPONDENT
November 30, 2006
South Korea’s trusted foreign automobile company BMW is seeing a lull in the country with the onslaught of the imported car market.
Carmakeres such as Audi, Volkswagen and Honda are catching up with BMW in what can be seen as a stiff competition on Korean soil. Satitsics reveal that BMW was numero uno in Korea in sales from 1999 to 2004, ahead of Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. However, Toyota’s Lexus stepped on the gas to give a boost to its marketing and sales. The result was that BMW was overtaken this year.
Reports said that as of October this year, BMW has about 15 percent market share. Lexus has 16 percent of the import market, which is building up to a 4-percent share of the overall automobile market. Last year, Lexus had an 18.9-percent market share, followed by BMW with 18.7 percent and Mercedes-Benz with 13 percent.
BMW may be in deep trouble, but there are others who see their shares slipping. Lexus and Mercedes-Benz have been falling thanks to increased pressure from Volvo, Peugeot, Ford and Mini Cooper.
Meanwhile year-on-year sales figures have been a consolation in the times of competition for BMW. In the first 10 months of the current year, BMW sold 4,931 vehicles, up more than 10 percent from the same period a year ago. The company said that about 5,700 cars were sold last year, it expects to take it to more than 6,000 for this year.
It has been predicted that about 40,000 foreign cars will be sold in Korea this year, up from 30,901 in 2005.
|
