Beijing Benz insistent on plan to produce Benz C class in China

Beijing Benz will not abandon its plan to produce Benz C class in China, a Beijing Benz press official said today.

“We are prepared to produce Benz C class right here in Beijing by end of this year,” Ruan Weijian, a public relations official, told Gasgoo.com today.

Ruan denied earlier reports that Beijing Benz may give up its original plan to produce Benz C class this year and will instead import Benz C class from Germany.

“We cannot tell you when China-produced Benz C class will be sold in Chinese market, but I can assure you we won’t give up our production plan in China,” Ruan said.

Ruan’s comments are in conflict with earlier reports from a Chinese newspaper  that stated: “Beijing Benz may give up its plan to produce Benz C in China this year.

The report says Beijing Benz is conducting a research on Chinese customers’ possible reactions to Benz C introduced to China late this year.

In comparison with Audi and BMW that have a series of products made in China, Benz has only an E class product and its sales are poor.

In the first six months, China-made Audi A6 sold 36,992 units, China-made BMW sold 15,165 units, but China-made Benz E class sold only 3,105 units. As a result of bad sales record, Benz E had to reduce its prices to compete with rivals, which unfortunately has damaged Benz image in China.

In order to change this situation and better compete with Audi and BMW series, Beijing Benz plans to produce Benz C class locally in China.