BMW on track to become China’s top luxury brand

BMW on track to become China’s top luxury brand

For the month of November, BMW sold 55,293 vehicles in China, up 12% from the same month last year. Based on a report by Automotive News, this puts the Bavarian company right on track to be the Republic’s top premium brand, with a 15% year-to-date growth to 542,362 units compared to its performance within the same period last year.

The luxury playing field saw Audi shifting 56,208 units (up 6.5%), whereas Mercedes-Benz’s brand registrations increased a strong 22% to 50,813. Audi, despite being the best performer in November, is playing catch-up after losing sales earlier in the year when its dealers began boycotting the brand.

The problem arose when the Ingolstadt-based automaker planned to launch a second distribution channel in China. This angered a few dealers, hence the boycott. Audi cancelled on the plan in May, and sales have been on the rise ever since.

BMW currently leads the luxury sales chart with 542,362 units, followed by second-place Mercedes-Benz with 539,728 units (up 27%) and third place Audi with 528,706 units (down 2.1%). Mercedes-Benz was formerly China’s number three luxury car brand.

To maintain pace, BMW is having discussions with Great Wall Motor on plans to form a joint venture to produce cars in China for MINI. The company is also launching a car-sharing program this month which will see a small fleet of electric i3 models be used in Chengdu. If successful, BMW could expand its car-sharing program to help meet China’s tough EV mandates in 2019.

Back at home, Mercedes-Benz shifted 10,952 units for the first 11 months of 2017, versus 9,608 for BMW and 678 for Audi.

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 

Comments

  • Ridhuan T. on Dec 19, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    Volvo China > all

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
  • Ben Yap on Dec 19, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    Bye bye Audi…..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • One month of sale in China = 5 years of sale in Msia. That’s how big China market is or how small we are. :)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • Ben Yap on Dec 19, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    And unlike in Malaysia, China has a lot of young and rich people, so Mercedes don’t stand a chance.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • 12yrsold on Dec 19, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    So what if BMW or Merc or Audi become China’s top luxury brand !! I want to know why Geely/P1 are so slow in bringing a NEW model into M’sia !!

    Don’t give the crap of converting from left to right hand drive. A global car should have both sorted out already. This comment should give an avenue for basher to start commenting. Lets begin…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 8
    • Mustapha Kamal on Dec 19, 2017 at 5:22 pm

      please understand 2 years is what Proton quoted. You must factor in the 100 mesyuarat. Discuss in mesyuarat, minum teh and makan karipap. All this takes time.

      Don’t compare us to China or Singapore where speed is essential

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 5
      • If definition of ‘us’ means Tesla, then https://paultan.org/2017/08/01/tesla-model-3-performance-version-arriving-next-year/

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 3
    • Engineering ≠ magic

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
  • Semi-Value (Member) on Dec 23, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    easy…bmw is exciting..mercedes design so uncle…but volvo best

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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