BMW said Tuesday it will strengthen its electric vehicle lineup in South Korea to meet growing demand for environment friendly vehicles.

This week, BMW added the all-electric iX flagship SUV and the iX3 midsized SUV to its existing EV lineup composed of the pure electric i3 subcompact car and the plug-in hybrid i8 sedan.

"The company will continue to beef up its EV lineup by adding electrified models to each segment to satisfy customers' demands," BMW Korea said in a statement.

BMW plans to launch the 4-door i4 Grand Coupe and the i4 M50 performance model in the first quarter of 2022. The i4 M50 will be the first pure electric model in the high-performance M lineup, the statement said.

Its EV model launches are in line with global carmakers' electrification push to help cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The iX SUV is available in two versions: one is the iX xDrive50 model and the other is the iX xDrive40.

The former can reach 100 kph from zero in a whopping 4.6 seconds and can travel 447 km on a single charge, while the latter can accelerate from zero to 100 kph in 6.1 seconds and travel 313 km, the statement said.

The price of iX models starts at 123 million won ($103,000) and rises up to 146 million won depending on options.

The iX3 SUV can travel 344 km on a charge and go from zero to 100 kph in 6.8 seconds. It is priced at 76 million won.

From January to October, BMW Group Korea -- which has BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce under its wing -- sold a total of 67,133 vehicles, up 19 percent from 56,436 units in the year-ago period.

German carmakers have fared better than their Japanese, US and other multinational rivals in Asia's fourth-biggest economy during the extended COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first 10 months, three German brands -- BMW, Audi-Volkswagen Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea -- sold a combined 161,937 autos, up 11 percent from 145,507 units a year ago. Seven out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Korea during the 10 months were from Germany.

Imported carmakers sold 233,432 units, up 8.1 percent from 216,004 during the same period.

Import brands accounted for 20.65 percent of the Korean passenger vehicle market in September, up from 15.7 percent a year ago. Their market share for October will be available next month. (Yonhap)