April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Mercedes-Benz Korea, local unit of the German carmaker, unveiled its facelifted S-Class sedan on Sept. 4, with plans to sell over 6,000 units this year.

“We expect to sell the same as last year, (which is) over 6,000 units this year for the S-Class,” Dimitris Psillakis, Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO, told The Investor during the S-Class launching event held in Seoul. He added the number combines both the predecessor and the revamped model that will be delivered to customers from the end of this month. 

Last year, out of 56,343 cars Mercedes-Benz Korea sold here, 6,783 units were S-Class models.

The refreshed six-generation S-Class arrives after four years since it was first introduced in 2013. The updated version has more than 6,500 new components, including a couple of brand new engines such as 3.0-liter six-cylinder diesel engine and V8 turbo petrol engine, according to the carmaker. With subtle tweaks to the exterior, a revised interior and upgraded safety and tech features, Mercedes-Benz hopes to steer customers away from BMW 7 Series and Audi A8.

The German luxury carmaker is confident its high-end flagship sedan will be received well in Korea, its fifth-largest market in the world, after China, US, Germany and UK.

For the S-Class variants alone, it is the third largest market in terms of sales, after China and the US, even beating the marque’s home ground Germany. The sixth-generation S-Class, which sold 300,000 units globally since 2013, clocked sales of 26,000 units in Korea.

“The Korean market is very important for the S-Class,” said Psillakis. “Demand for the new S-Class is pretty high. We have had some pre-communication with some of our key customers and sneaked preview of the vehicles for them.”

He added the Korean unit secured good portion of supply from the German factory to meet the high interest. But due to varying types of the model, it would be difficult to satisfy demand immediately. Instead, the delivery will roll out gradually in the next few months.

“You can be assured that Korea, which is No. 3 for us in the world in S-Class sales and No. 2 for Maybach, will get top priority.”

Eight new S-Class models are available in Korea, which includes the top-of-the-line Mercedes-Maybach S560 4MATIC, two high-performance AMG models -- S63 4MATIC Long and its performance edition, among others.

The car is priced between 145.5 million won (US$128,583) for the entry diesel model S350d 4MATIC to 250.5 million won for the AMG model.

The German carmaker plans to add other S-Class offerings, coupe and cabriolet -- that will debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show -- in the market sometime next year.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)