Imported Car Industry's Key Topic This Year: 'Customer Satisfaction'... Expansion of Customer Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Imported car companies, which recorded sales of 270,000 units in the domestic market last year, have chosen 'customer satisfaction' as their management goal for this year.

According to the industry on the 31st, imported car companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo focused on increasing sales last year, but this year they plan to enhance customer satisfaction by newly introducing or expanding customer services. According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), last year's imported car sales reached 274,859 units, setting a new record for the highest sales ever. The previous highest sales volume was 260,705 units in 2018.

First, Mercedes-Benz Korea, which has ranked first in imported car sales for five consecutive years, offers new loyalty services for Benz customers through the 'Mercedes me Care' mobile membership program, which has partnerships with more than 50 companies. These services include lifestyle-related reservations such as car washing, designated driver services, and golf reservations. In addition, they are building an online sales platform where customers can explore and contract for their preferred vehicles, and are promoting the introduction of 'DSD Pay,' a payment function supported at official service centers.

BMW Vehicle Logistics Center

BMW Korea introduced the subscription-based vehicle management service package 'BMW Prime' at the end of last year. Furthermore, from this year until 2023, they plan to invest a total of 60 billion KRW to expand the BMW vehicle logistics center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and to expand Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) before delivery to reduce customers' vehicle delivery time.

Volvo, which launched the integrated service brand 'Service by Volvo' for the first time in the Asian market in June last year, plans to increase the number of service centers to 52 and the number of work bays to 312 by 2023. This year, they will newly open service centers in five locations: Gimhae in Gyeongnam, Guri in Gyeonggi Province, Seodaegu, Gangdong in Seoul, and Yulhyeon in Gangnam. They also plan to expand work bays by 20% in line with the increased number of registered vehicles.

Audi also plans to increase two showrooms mainly in the metropolitan area this year and open service centers in three regions where there were none before. They will operate a total of 38 showrooms and 42 service centers.

Meanwhile, as sales of eco-friendly vehicles such as electric and hybrid cars increase, efforts are also being made to expand related infrastructure. BMW is building infrastructure capable of charging 70,000 units annually based on its electric vehicle model i3. Mercedes-Benz Korea also plans to accelerate the establishment of an eco-friendly mobility environment by expanding EQ-exclusive charging facilities, electric vehicle specialized technical personnel, and service advisors stationed at EQ-exclusive service centers nationwide.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.