New E-Class likely to achieve 7,000 sales

Mercedes-Benz is expected to reach the 7,000 mark in sales of the new E-Class this year as its chief executive Britta Seeger had previously predicted.

Last month, the German carmaker sold more than 1,400 units, up from 866 in August. As of the end of July, it had sold more than 2,000, which suggests that the company will be capable of comfortably achieving the 7,000 goal, especially considering that the car was launched only in June.

Packaged in a brand new design and grill, and with prices starting from 60 million won ($56,500), the new E-Class has been winning kudos from Korean customers.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Korea is now pinning hopes on the upcoming sixth-generation S-Class lineup which is to be unveiled to Korean consumers next year.

The prices and trim have yet to be confirmed for Korea, but the S500 and the S400 hybrid are most likely to be launched here, according to industry watchers.

Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 2,430 cars in September to take second place among foreign car brand sales, according to figures from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. It was bumped to second place after Volkswagen took first by selling 2,457 units. Following at No. 3 was BMW Korea.

For the year, however, BMW was in the lead with 25,088 cars, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 18,584 cars and Volkswagen that trailed the second-place carmaker by a tiny margin of 73 cars.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)