"Luxury Sedan War Unfolds"... S-Class, G90, 7 Series Clash (Comprehensive)

Mercedes-Benz Korea is holding the unveiling event of 'The New Mercedes-Benz S-Class' on the 28th at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] The competition among luxury sedans from Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, and BMW is expected to intensify in the domestic automobile market. While Mercedes-Benz’s ‘S-Class’ continues to lead, the full-scale sales of Genesis’ ‘G90’ and the upcoming launch of BMW’s completely redesigned ‘7 Series’ in the second half of the year are anticipated.

According to Kaizyu Data Research Institute on the 2nd, the sales volume of the 7th generation S-Class in the first quarter (January to March) was 3,569 units, ranking first among luxury sedans. It was followed by the G90 with 2,977 units and the 7 Series with 590 units.

The S-Class is considered a traditional powerhouse in the luxury sedan segment. Since its first release in 1951, it has sold over 4 million units worldwide, making it a best-selling flagship sedan. The 7th generation fully redesigned S-Class was launched domestically in April last year, marking the first complete redesign in eight years. Since its release, it has consistently held the top spot in the large sedan market. From April to December last year, 9,935 units were sold, securing first place. During the same period, it overwhelmingly outperformed Genesis (3,475 units) and the 7 Series (1,927 units).

However, competition among luxury sedans is expected to become fierce in the second half of the year. Genesis unveiled the fully redesigned G90 in December last year. On the first day of pre-orders, it recorded 12,000 units. Deliveries began in January. Recently, sales have been remarkable. Although G90 sales were sluggish with 97 units in January and 666 units in February, they surged to 2,214 units in March, nearly doubling the S-Class’s 1,205 units.

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It is widely expected that sales will accelerate further. A long-wheelbase model with a 190mm longer overall length than the existing sedan is scheduled to be released this month. In Korea, domestic automakers’ vehicles are still preferred for executive use over foreign-made cars. With the personnel season approaching in the second half of the year, more companies are expected to purchase the G90.

BMW, which has been relatively weak in the luxury sedan competition, is expected to ignite the domestic market with a renewed spirit through the new 7 Series. The 7 Series is a flagship sedan first introduced in 1977. Last month, BMW unveiled the 7th generation fully redesigned New 7 Series for the first time. It has been seven years since the 6th generation was launched in 2015.

The New 7 Series is larger than the previous model, with an increase of 130mm in length, 48mm in width, and 51mm in height. It is notable for offering a variety of powertrains, including internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids (PHEV), and pure electric models (BEV). The next-generation 7 Series and the pure electric model ‘i7’ are scheduled for official release in the domestic market in the second half of this year.

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Each brand is actively promoting their models. Mercedes-Benz Korea recently demonstrated a self-parking technology. It is the ‘Intelligent Park Pilot,’ an intelligent automatic valet parking system applied to the S-Class. This technology allows the driver to park the vehicle in a designated area, exit, and then activate the function via a smartphone application. The vehicle then safely moves at low speed to an empty space and parks itself without the driver. The smartphone app can also be used to summon the vehicle back to a designated pickup location.

BMW Financial Services Korea launched the ‘7 for 7’ pre-contract purchase program for the new 7 Series. This program allows customers to consecutively drive both the currently sold BMW large sedan 7 Series and the new 7 Series to be released in the second half of the year. By using this program, customers can pay a 10% down payment and then pay monthly installments ranging from 2 to 3 million KRW for 24 months, depending on the specific model, to drive the currently available 7 Series.

Industry insiders expect fierce competition as all three brands begin full-scale sales of their completely redesigned models this year. An industry official explained, “This year is the first year that the S-Class, G90, and 7 Series are all introduced domestically as fully redesigned models. As sales of luxury vehicles increase in Korea, competition among these companies is also expected to intensify.”

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