BMW to make 300,000 vehicles annually in China

Shanghai, April 23 (Gasgoo.com) German luxury car maker BMW expects to build 300,000 vehicles per year in China, which is overtaking the UK as BMW's third largest market this year (after Germany and the U.S.), Reuters reported today, citing company CEO.

"From our point of view, it is realistic that we will need this capacity over the long-term," Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters in Beijing yesterday ahead of the capital city's auto show that begins this weekend.

BMW plans to sell over 100,000 cars in China this year, up from 90,536 in 2009, said Ian Robertson, the group head of sales. "I am pretty confident that China will be the third largest market for BMW this year. There's no other market which has seen equal growth," he added.

In the first quarter, BMW saw its sales in China's mainland double to nearly 34,200 vehicles, a record for the first three months. The strong growth means the German luxury carmaker will need to ramp up capacity to meet demand.

BMW and its local partner Brilliance Auto are investing 560 million euros ($753 million) to build a second plant at their venture BMW Brilliance in northeastern city of Shenyang. The new factory will produce BMW models, perhaps including the BMW X1 SUV.

BMW Brilliance is expected to more than double its annual production to 100,000 vehicles in 2012. Potentially that capacity level could eventually be tripled, according to BMW.

Last year, BMW built roughly 43,700 units of the 3-Series and 5-Series models in Shenyang with Brilliance, up 24%, while it sold 90,536 cars in the China market, up 38%.