BMW is considering increasing its planned investments in China, according to local reports citing a company executive, despite the sharp decline in the country's vehicle market due to the COVID19 coronavirus.
The CEO of BMW group region China, Jochen Goller, in a conference call last week said "all the investments we are already committed to in China will go ahead and we are actually discussing adding to these investments in the future".
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Goller said China would remain BMW's most important market worldwide and it was optimistic about the mid-and long-term prospects of the vehicle market there, despite the recent disruption to vehicle sales and production caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
"The impact on the industry is likely to linger throughout the first half of the year," he added.
Goller confirmed BMW resumed operations at its offices and plants in China on 17 February and around 85% of its dealer network was now up and running.
BMW and Mini sales in China last year rose by 14% to 724,733 units, to account for 28.5% of group sales, while the overall Chinese vehicle market was down by 8.2% to 25.8m units.
BMW Group aims to have 25 electric and plug in hybrid models on sale globally by 2023, more than half which will be all electric.
China is the world's largest electric vehicle market and will play a central role in BMW's global production strategy.
