Mercedes-Benz Korea plans to raise the share of electric vehicles from its entire sales in South Korea to 15 percent this year based on an enhanced lineup to meet growing demand.

“The basic goal of the Mercedes-Benz Group is to make vehicles desired by everyone,” said Lee Sang-kuk, vice president of sales at Mercedes-Benz Korea, in a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. “Sales of our top level models such as the S-Class, Maybach, and AMG rose 17 percent last year from a year ago in Korea.”

The Germany-based automaker plans to release 12 new vehicles this year, including two new models, two full-change models, and 8 face-lifts. Of them, 8 are sport utility vehicles (SUVs), which include The new EQS SUV introduced last month as the first luxury electric SUV model that applies its own EV platform EVA2.

Mercedes-Benz Korea has added EV lineups to almost every model since its first EV launch in Korea in 2019. According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), the automaker sold 5,006 battery-powered vehicles in 2022, up 3.7 times from the previous year.

The automaker aims to have 15 percent of its entire sales come from EVs this year, up from 6.2 percent last year.

Mercedes-Benz Korea will introduce The New EQE SUV in the second half of the year.

As for full-change models, the automaker will release The New Mercedes-AMG SL, the 7th generation of the luxury roadster SL, and The New GLC, the 3rd generation of the global best-selling mid-size SUV model this year.

Mercedes-Benz Korea, which marks 20 years of business in Korea, sold 80,976 vehicles last year to retain top position in the country’s import car market for a 7th year. Korea is the fourth-largest market for the automaker after China, the U.S., and Germany.

By Moon Gwang-min and Han Yubin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]