BMW is to invest CNY5 bn (USD732m) to expand production capacity in China with its local partner, Brilliance Auto Group.
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This will take the joint venture’s total investment in China to CNY9.5 bn (USD1.4bn), BMW said in a statement. The company did not give a timeframe for the new investment but said that it plans to boost the production capacity of its existing plant at Shenyang in northeastern China, and to build an engine facility.
Earlier this week BMW reported that sales in China of its soared 81% in October, including the Mini brand, from a year earlier to a monthly record of 9,558 units. Its China sales in the January-October period jumped 36.7% to 71,952 units from 52,622 units a year earlier.
China’s total car sales outstripped those in the US for the first time in January to make it the world’s largest car market, helped by Beijing’s efforts to stimulate domestic consumption. These measures included cutting taxes on cars with engines smaller than 1.6 litres and subsidising alternative-energy vehicles.
Total auto sales in China rose 72.5% in October from a year ago to 1.23 million units, the eighth straight month that sales exceeded the one million unit mark. For the first 10 months of the year, sales rose 37.7% year-on-year to 10.89 million according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
