[Seoul Motor Show] BMW highlights speed, luxury and energy efficient vehicles

BMW Group Korea unveiled the new M760Li xDrive, the fastest model in the company’s flagship 7 Series, and showcased the power of its trademark M Performance driving system at the 2017 Seoul Motor Show on Thursday.
 
For the first time in Korea, the German carmaker exhibited the M760Li xDrive’s V12 M Performance twin-turbo power adder engine, which can reach speeds of up to 304 kph. Delivering up to 602 horsepower, the new luxury sedan can reach 100 kph in 3.7 seconds.

The engine time is half a second faster than the company’s rivaling Mercedes-AMG S65.

Looking to reclaim its throne as the country’s best-selling imported car brand after dropping to No. 2 last year falling to fellow German automaker Mercedes-Benz Korea, the company also recently launched the seventh generation of its 5-series luxury sedan – the company’s most representative luxury sedan model in February.

The luxury German automaker has had a strong reign in the domestic imports market over the past few years, ranking No. 1 in sales in 2014 and 2015.

Compared to its predecessor, the new 5 Series is lighter, more spacious and has upgraded its technical specifications to include the iDrive 6.0 and semiautonomous driving technology. The new series is also the first BMW model to be equipped with the iDrive 6.0, which feeds live content and features voice command technology capable of understanding one’s natural speech patterns.

According to BMW Korea, pre-sale contracts for the new 5 series went on to surpass 2,000 units. In comparison, last year the average monthly sales of the previous 5 series averaged around 1,435 units.

For those consumers keen on energy efficiency and environmentally friendly, BMW Korea also introduced its BMW i3 (94Ah) electric vehicle, increasing its driving range by 50 percent compared to its predecessor.

The BMW i3 was previously equipped with 60 Ah lithium-ion battery cells which stored roughly 21 kWh of energy. However, the latest version of the i3 has boosted its battery power to the newer 94Ah-cell-upgrade that stores up to 33 kWh with range roughly 200 kilometers.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)