Sales vs. Market Share
The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association announced on Dec. 21 that BMW sold a total of 42,653 cars in Korea between January and November this year, increasing its sales volume by 14.97 percent from a year ago.
Mercedes Benz Korea, in the meantime, sold 42,044 cars during the same period to record a year-on-year growth rate of 29.39 percent. Volkswagen Korea increased its volume by 19.17 percent to 33,143 during the period, while the sales volume and the sales growth rate totaled 29,651 and 14 percent for Audi Korea, respectively.
Still, BMW Korea, Volkswagen Korea and Audi Korea failed to increase their shares in the Korean automobile market. Specifically, the market share of BMW Korea fell from 20.7 to 19.43 percent, that of Volkswagen Korea fell from 15.52 to 15.1 percent, and that of Audi Korea fell from 14.44 to 13.51 percent. In contrast, Mercedes Benz Korea raised its market share from 18.13 to 19.15 percent from a year earlier.
Industry experts point out that the performance of Mercedes Benz Korea is especially noteworthy, with German cars’ overall market share growth in Korea being stagnated these days. The four German automakers’ combined market share in the country rose from 56.3 percent to 66.16 percent between 2010 and 2013, and exceeded 68 percent last year, but is expected to show negative growth this year.