BMW premieres new 5 Series in Korea, the model’s top market

German carmaker BMW Group on Thursday premiered its latest 5 Series premium sedan in South Korea, an indication of the growing importance of the Asian country in the luxury segment.

The unveiling in Korea of BMW’s fully-revamped eighth-generation 5 Series is significant in that the German automaker faces an uphill battle against its archrival Mercedes-Benz in Korea’s overall imported premium vehicle market.

Nevertheless, the 5 Series is among Korean drivers’ favorite premium cars, with its sales reaching 15,749 units in the first eight months of the year – the highest among imported vehicles. Mercedes-Benz’s E-Class came in second at 12,030 units, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.

In an apparent bid to tighten its lead in Korea, Adrian van Hooydonk, BMW’s design chief, flew to Seoul to discuss the design philosophy of the new vehicle.

During a press conference at the BMW Driving Center on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, he said he wanted to give the new 5 Series a distinctive feature so that even a five-year-old child could recognize it.

More than 100 designers worked for over a year to create the interior and exterior design of the new vehicle, the designer said.

The redesigned vehicle comes six years after its previous edition came out in 2017.

LARGER AND SPACIOUS

The new 5 Series is larger than the previous generation model, with its length, width and height extended by 95 mm, 30 mm and 35 mm, respectively.

The wheelbase has extended by 20 mm to 2,995 mm, offering the largest interior space among same-class vehicles.

In addition to the gasoline and diesel models, BMW added an all-electric i5 sedan to its 5 Series lineup.

The BMW i5 eDrive40 offers 340 horsepower and accelerates to 100 km per hour in six seconds, according to BMW Korea. The i5 eDrive40 and i5 M60 xDrive are equipped with an 81.2 kWh battery pack and can travel up to 384 km and 361 km, respectively, on a single charge.

The gasoline-powered 5 Series models are priced between 67 million won and 89 million won ($49,000-$66,000) while diesel vehicles are priced at 76 million won-83 million won. The all-electric versions are available at 94 million won-104 million won.

The 5 Series, alongside the 3 Series compact sedan, has been a major cash cow for BMW Korea as an increasing number of young Koreans have set their sights on luxury sedans with dynamic driving performance.

BMW launched the 5 Series in 1972 globally, selling over 8 million units since then.

In Korea, BMW Group sells vehicles under three brands – BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.