The BMW 3 Series, the “textbook of sports sedans,” hit Mercedes-Benz, the No. 1 imported car and the absolute powerhouse of imported sedans.
BMW Korea is poised to regain its No. 1 spot, which was lost to Mercedes-Benz Korea, for the first time in seven years thanks to its performance in the third series.
This is the result of analyzing the performance of BMW 3 Series and its competitive Mercedes-Benz C Class through the Kaizu Data Research Institute, which collects sales by car type based on data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 25th.
In the first half of this year (January-June), 4,047 BMW 3 series were sold. It was only 342 units less than the same period last year at a time when production was severely disrupted due to a shortage of semiconductors for vehicles and unstable supply and demand for parts.
The sales ranking of imported cars is fifth. It is followed by Mercedes-Benz E-Class (154,434 units), BMW 5 Series (1,462 units), Benz S-Class (6473 units), and Tesla Model 3 (4714 units).
Mercedes-Benz C Class ranked 14th with 2,036 units sold during the same period. Sales of BMW 3 series are about twice as large.
Sell twice as much as Mercedes-Benz C
BMW 3 Series dominated Benz C class in 2020-2021. BMW 3 Series was sold 8,150 units in 2020 and 5,362 units of Benz C Class, respectively.
In addition to the factory chaos caused by a shortage of semiconductors for vehicles, 7,980 BMW 3 series were sold last year when demand for new models decreased ahead of the launch.
With only 2,736 units, it overwhelmed Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which sold half of the previous year.
Mercedes-Benz Korea launched a new Mercedes-Benz C class in March this year, which has increased its size to a medium-sized level and improved its quality to the point where it can be called “Baby S Class.”
The new Benz Class C did well. In the first half of this year, sales increased 12.8% from the same period last year. However, it was not enough to break down the stronghold of the BMW 3 Series.
The BMW 3 Series paid back the pain that the BMW 5·7 series lost to the Mercedes E·S class in the sedan market.
3 Series, BMW’s drive to recapture No. 1 spot
The BMW 3 Series is a great help to BMW Korea’s pursuit of recapturing the top spot in seven years.
BMW Korea topped the list of imported cars for seven consecutive years from 2009 to 2015. The situation has reversed since the release of the 10th generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which was released in 2016.
Benz Korea was humiliated for the sixth consecutive year until last year as Benz E Class overwhelmed BMW 5 Series and Benz S Class overwhelmed BMW 7 Series.
In the first half of this year, the gap between the two brands decreased significantly. BMW Korea is more likely to recapture the top spot in seven years.
In the first half of the year, Benz Korea sold 39,225 units and BMW Korea sold 37,554 units. Benz Korea won by a margin of 1,671.
During the same period, BMW 3 Series sold 2,499 more units than Benz C Class, helping to chase Benz Korea.