BMW could soon begin exporting the vehicles it builds in China after its local BMW Brilliance joint venture was granted a license from Chinese authorities.
While cars built in China have had a reputation for being cheap and unreliable, the German automaker believes its Chinese-built models are just as good as those it makes in Germany and the United States and are ready to be sold around the world.
In a statement, head of BMW in China Olaf Kastner said that the company has yet to decide what models it could sell internationally.
“We have an export license for the JV but so far we haven’t decided on exports since we need the production for the local market,” he said.
In 2016, BMW built more than 300,000 vehicles at its two Chinese facilities and recently expanded its two local plants to lift production to 450,000 units annually. Among the vehicles produced locally are the long-wheelbase 5-Series, X1 LWB, 2-Series Tourer, 3-Series LWB, 3-Series Sedan and the China-exclusive 1-Series Sedan.
AutoNews reports to have received word from a source within the company who said that BMW applied for the export license on the back of pressure from the government, not necessarily because it intends on actually exporting its Chinese built vehicles.
“It’s the government’s declared goal to foster vehicle exports. We told them we would only consider it if it makes economic sense,” claimed the source.
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