BMW has announced plans to expand its production capacity and introduce three new car models to the Chinese market in a bid to attract middle-class buyers. (Photo : Reuters)
Despite reports of slow sales in the Chinese auto market, BMW has announced plans to increase its production capacity and also introduce three new vehicle models to the number of BMW cars manufactured in the country in a bid to attract middle-income customers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, BMW will be expanding its production capacity in China from 300,000 to 400,000 by 2017.
Auto News Europe reported that the three new BMW models, which are due to be introduced to the Chinese market, are the front-wheel-driver 2-series Active Tourer, the FWD Sedan, as well as the RWD/AWD X3 Compact SUV.
This revelation is in line with a statement by the chief of BMW China, Karsten Engel, who disclosed that the company's main growth areas in China are SUV and compact cars, Bloomberg reported.
According to Engel, BMW has scaled back manufacturing in the country in order to meet the needs of its distributors. He noted that the company may also scale back production in the second quarter.
In the first quarter of this year, BMW saw an increase in sales of about 7.6 percent in China.
Last year, up to a third of the BMW cars sold in China were reportedly produced locally.
"The long-wheelbase version of the 5 series (currently available in China only) remains our best-seller with over a third of our China sales, but we see a growing number of customers new to the brand that do not have a chauffeur and drive their cars themselves," Engel said.
BMW is expected to begin production of the 2-series Active Tourer next year, while the production of the FWD Sedan is set to coincide with the company's plan to expand its manufacturing capacity in China by 2017. The production date for the X3 Compact SUV has not been announced.
Reports indicate that BMW is also equipping its factories in China to produce engines.
