Thursday, January 31, 2008

BMW In China

The Asian auto market is growing steadily. India and China are the two countries to watch as more and more consumers at these countries are now looking for vehicles to purchase. This means that we can see major automakers expanding their presence in these Asian countries.

Nissan already announced its plan to turn India into an auto parts production hub. In China, automakers like General Motors are already making their presence felt. Recently, The Auto Channel reported that German automaker BMW is looking to increase their sales in Asia. The automaker announced that they will be aiming to increase sales by a quarter over the next five years.

Stefan Krause, sales and marketing chief of BMW, said that the company is expecting to improve just a little bit from last year's 12 percent sales growth. "This is a conservative target, because we like to exceed expectations," said Krause. According to him, the automaker's 1 Series will be marketed in the region in hope that it will be attractive to consumers in the region who can afford luxury vehicles.

The German automaker though is careful in dealing with the Chinese auto market as a dramatic shift in the trend would leave them losing money. "It's too early to say what will happen in the next three or five years," said Christopher Stark, the head of the German automaker's arm in the Asian country. "As and when market demand grows, we will look again into how to proceed with an expansion," he added. After all, BMW vehicles are not as inexpensive as an Acura car cover. That's why they should take every precaution to avoid overproduction.

Krause though concluded that: "In 2008 we expect further substantial increases in retail volume in China, despite increasing competition in the market."

posted by: Joe Thompson @ 6:19 PM

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