The familiar qualities of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, more commonly known as BMW, have attracted and will keep attracting buyers from all over the world. And this, despite the fact that some have said the company has kind-of lost its edge in recent years, distancing itself from its original core values, and relying instead on marketing, an aggressive expansion into new territories and the idea that covering every single niche (and creating a few more) is a good thing.
Still, it seems that the aggressive expansion part is serving them well, so much so in fact that they have announced China as their number one market in 2013, dethroning the U.S. that had held the top spot until now.
According to Bloomberg, Chinese deliveries in the first half of the year have already surpassed Stateside figures (with MINI sales included, 15 percent higher than 2012), and are likely to rise 10 percent more by the end of the year. That, however, doesn’t mean they are luxury leaders in the People’s Republic yet, because they’re not – Audi is.
BMW sees huge potential in the country, as “there are 100 cities with more than a million inhabitants in China with no premium car dealers at all.” This offers excellent growth opportunities for all the competing manufacturers, and what is good for the folks from Munchen is also good for those from Ingolstadt, Stuttgart, Coventry and even Detroit.
It doesn’t seem to bother them, as Karsten Engel, head of BMW’s business in China, said that they are “enjoying the competition,” adding that they “always grew with competition.” Currently, Audi holds 29.6 percent of luxury sales, with BMW coming in second with 23.6 percent, while Mercedes-Benz scores 20.6 percent.
Furthermore, with the planned China-only green brand, as well as the i3 and i8 models, both of which will eventually go on sale there too, the scope of the brand will be expanded even further, bringing in additional sales. These niche cars won’t sell in huge numbers, not even in China, so while they will contribute to a larger percentage of sales, they may not be enough to take the top spot from Audi, which itself is aware of BMW’s plans and definitely won’t go down without a fight.
Besides, local manufacturers are also taking up arms against the luxurious but sober Germans and some of their projects are genuinely not bad…
By Andrei Nedelea
PHOTO GALLERY
