BMW Korea expects to keep double-digit sales growth in 2015

The head of BMW Korea, the local unit of German carmaker BMW, said Thursday he expects double-digit sales growth in South Korea to continue this year on the back of strong demand and expanding customer base.
  

The growth outlook followed a milestone sales figure achieved by BMW last year in the country, where it sold more than 40,000 vehicles for the first time as a foreign carmaker.
  

"We usually do not disclose exact figures on sales, but we expect to continue a double-digit growth this year," Kim Hyo-joon, the head of BMW Korea, said at a press conference held in Yeongjongdo, west of Seoul.
  

The outlook is based on the fast-expanding customer base here in which a growing number of younger people tend to buy foreign vehicles and demand for cars with an engine smaller than 2,000 cc is rising, a trend that he expects will last "for the time being."
  

Last year, BMW Korea sold a total of 40,174 vehicles in South Korea. The 2014 sales represent a 21.5 percent increase from a year earlier. As a result, Kim said that South Korea emerged as the eighth-largest global market for BMW.
  

Kim said that BMW Korea will keep its efforts to strengthen its market-leading status by unveiling 12 new models in South Korea this year, including its first plug-in electric vehicle model i8.
  

With regard to the company's somewhat disappointing sales in January, Kim cited a lack of supply as a reason for the failure to meet demand, but he assured that overall sales remain on track.
  

The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association earlier reported that BMW slipped to third in terms of January sales following Mercedes-Benz and Audi. BMW sold 3,008 vehicles last month.
  

"Simply put, we didn't have cars to sell," Kim said. "Since we have annual supply plans, we do not pay much attention on monthly ups and downs in supply. Supply disruptions could last until February, but (the overall sales) will go as planned." (Yonhap)