BMW Q1 China sales up 13.8% to 16,580 units

BMW, the world's largest premium car maker, said on Friday it sold 13.8 percent more cars in mainland China in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Sales came to 16,580 units for January to March, up from 14,574 units a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Sales of BMW brands rose 14.4 percent to 15,850 units, including 8,402 BMW 3 Series and 5 Series cars made in mainland China. Sales of Minis climbed 1 percent to 730 units, it said.

Rival Daimler AG sold 11,800 Mercedes-Benz cars in mainland China and Hong Kong during the period, up 22.5 percent from a year earlier, its China spokesman Trevor Hale said earlier this week.

In the Greater China area, including mainland China, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong, BMW sold 18,244 vehicles in the period, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier, it added.

BMW operates a manufacturing venture with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd (1114.HK) in the northern Chinese city of Shenyang.