South Korea “is a growing market that’s very important for us,” CEO Stephan Winkelmann said during a televised interview in Seoul to promote Urus SE, the hybrid version of its bestselling Urus SUV.

South Korea was the carmaker’s seventh-largest market in 2023 with record deliveries of 434 vehicles, the company said.

Global luxury brands are seeking to increase their presence in Korea where spending on personal luxury goods was the world’s highest per-capita in 2022. In December, Bentley launched a US$260,000 luxury SUV in Korea, while Ferrari NV last year held its first public event in Asia in Seoul.

Lamborghini, a unit of Volkswagen AG, sold 195 cars in South Korea in the first half of 2024, according to new registration data from the Korean trade ministry. That’s up 7.1% from a year earlier, signalling the carmaker may have another strong year.

Most foreign luxury carmakers suffered lower sales in Korea in the first half. Maserati fell 31%, Rolls-Royce dropped 38% and Bentely plunged 64%.

Winkelmann said he believes Korean consumers will embrace the Urus SE, despite concerns over a lack of charging stations for battery-powered vehicles. Just 3,410 plug-in hybrids were sold in Korea in the first half, down 41% from a year ago, according to the trade ministry.

“The charging infrastructure is always a challenge for everybody going hybrid,” he said. “Despite this, we are very successful around the globe. We made a step in terms of pricing and also this was accepted globally and we don’t see that this isn’t going to be accepted in the Korean market.”