BMW says will surpass 2010 sales target in China

At the Paris Motor Show, Ian Robertson, BMW’s board member for marketing and sales, said that the company will surpass its 2010 sales target for the market in China. Robertson said that BMW will exceed the forecast it made last April that BMW Group sales will reach 120,000 units in China this year.

Robertson explained that BMW is raising its expectations because of the “extremely positive development in this market.” China took over the title of world's largest auto market last year from the US. As wages and living standards rise, the demand for high-end luxury cars has also climbed.

The rise in car demand in China has aided BMW to rise above the economic crisis. BMW’s profit of 831 million euros in the second quarter of this year was its biggest in 2.5 years. Analyst Max Warburton of Bernstein Research said that China's premium car market is expected to double in size by 2015 from its 2009 level of 400,000 units.

BMW forecasts that the premium market in China will expand by about 4.5% annually until 2022, exceeding growth prospects in more developed markets.“We announced back in April that we would sell 120.000 BMW Group vehicles in China this year. Due to the extremely positive development in this market, we are currently revising these figures upwards,” Robertson said.