Benz BMW Audi…Ten luxury electric vehicles are coming

Benz BMW Audi…Ten luxury electric vehicles are coming in by the end of this year.

Recently, the European Union announced a carbon emission reduction strategy that effectively bans the sale of internal combustion locomotives from 2035, and the domestic automobile market is being reorganized mainly for “green cars.” As major imported car brands spurred their “de-gelling” strategy, one out of three imported cars sold in the first half of this year was found to be eco-friendly cars.

According to the Kaizu Data Institute on the 20th, the number of new diesel cars registered from January to June this year was 242,389, down 14.1 percent from the same period last year. During the same period, only 461,028 and 55,535 new vehicles were registered, down 7.5 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the number of new hybrid cars and electric vehicles registered increased by 71.2 percent and 78.0 percent to 113,451 and 39,302, respectively.

Only four years ago, the proportion of new diesel car sales was nearly 45 percent, but fell to 30.8 percent last year and fell to 26.9 percent in the first half of this year. This phenomenon of de-dieselization is progressing more strongly in the imported car market than in domestic cars. According to the Korea Automobile Importers Association, sales of imported diesel vehicles in the first half of this year fell 38.6 percent year-on-year to 22,858. The portion of sales also halved from 27.5% in the first half of last year to 14.3% in the first half of this year.

During the same period, sales of imported gasoline cars more than doubled from 23,341 (17.3%) to 61,300 (38.5%), while sales of imported eco-friendly vehicles such as hybrid cars, plug-in hybrid cars, and electric vehicles remained flat from 74,717 (55.2%). In other words, one out of three new imported cars sold in Korea in the first half of this year is an eco-friendly car. In particular, thanks to Tesla’s advancement, sales of electric vehicles jumped up to 9.0%, and sales of hybrid cars also reached 22.4%. By model, Tesla’s low-end electric sedan “Model 3” sold 6275 units, taking the best selling car in the imported eco-friendly car market in the first half of this year. Such a change is not irrelevant to the electricization strategy put forward by global carmakers centered around Europe. Volkswagen recently announced that it would stop producing cars with internal combustion engines between 2033 and 2035. Volvo will also stop selling pure internal combustion locomotives by 2030.

“In Europe, finished car brands have prepared a motorization strategy in line with government regulations,” said Lee Hang-gu, a senior researcher at the Korea Automobile Research Institute. “As the U.S. is also turning to eco-friendly cars, it is time for Korean automakers to prepare a motorization strategy.”

Although there are some moves to expel internal combustion locomotives in the domestic car market, the speed is slow. According to the Korea Automobile Industry Association, sales of gasoline and diesel cars from five domestic car brands fell 2.1 percent and 7.3 percent year-on-year to 316,604 units and 102,483 units, respectively.

Meanwhile, as more than 10 new electric vehicles are expected to be released in the second half of this year, the imported car market is expected to change more rapidly to eco-friendly cars. Mercedes-Benz, the No. 1 manufacturer in the industry, introduced the compact electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) EQA on the 12th and will release the luxury electric sedan EQS at the end of this year. BMW will also introduce its flagship pure electric vehicle iX in Korea in December this year, and Audi will release its high-performance electric vehicle e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT within this year.