BMW '09 China sales up 38% to 90,536 cars

Shanghai, January 13 (Gasgoo.com) BMW, the world's biggest maker of premium cars, said today that it sold 90,536 cars in China last year, up 38% year on year, Reuters reported.

BMW's sales in mainland China in 2009 included its BMW and Mini brands, which came to a record 90,536 units, from 65,822 units sold in 2008, the German car company said in a statement.

In the Greater China area, including the mainland, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong, BMW sold 98,869 cars in 2009, up 31.2% from a year earlier, it added.

In China's luxury car segment, BMW competes with Audi and Mercedes-Benz brands. Last year in China, Volkswagen's luxury Audi brand sold 158,941 units, up 32.9%, and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz sold 68,500 cars, up 77%.

BMW expects a gradual recovery in global sales this year, with double-digit growth in China to offset its domestic downturn, the company said last month.

China has become the fourth-biggest market for BMW after Germany, the U.S. and the UK, and the continued strong growth in China, now the world's largest, will likely make it the No. 3 market for BMW in the next few years.

The sales boom in China has driven BMW and its local partner Brilliance Auto to invest $735 million to expand a plant in Shenyang that makes 3-series and 5-series sedans.