BMW Expects China to Surpass US in Sales This Year

China rise as a consumer nation is happening faster than anyone expected. BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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sold 800 cars a year in China in 1994; today it sells 900 cars a day. BMW is predicting that by the end of the year it will sell more cars in China than in the United States. Already in the first half of the year, BMW Group has sold 182,200 cars in China compared to 172,787 cars in the US, and it does not expect the balance to change in the second half.

"Strong growth in future will come from the smaller cities, and the strong growth will also come especially from the western region,"

"There are 100 cities with more than a million inhabitants in China with no premium car dealers at all, so this shows the huge potential we're having in this country,” said BMW head of China Karsten Engel.

BMW is not the only automaker seeing these gains. Audi sells even more cars than BMW in China, and AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
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also sells more cars in China than in the US.

The growing popularity of luxury cars in China means that automakers are competing hard for sales. The key to growing in China is adding dealers. BMW had 360 showrooms in China at the end of 2012 and is adding 60 more for 2013.

Engel predicts the luxury auto market in China will grow by 7% for 2013.

Source: Automotive News Europe