At a press event on Monday, BMW sales chief Ian Robertson said that he expects the brand’s sales in China to grow, albeit not at the extraordinary rate of 61% that it achieved in the first half.
"In the second half of the year we will not have such a fast growth rate in China as in the first half because of the high year-earlier level of comparison, but will still have growth," said Robertson.
The Bavarian company is the second-largest luxury carmaker in China after Audi. Along with Mercedes-Benz, all three German premium automakers have seen their sales in the country hit an all-time high in the first six months of 2011.
China is the third biggest market for BMW, right behind the USA and Germany, and its market share has increased by 3% to 15% compared to last year. So the growth in China more than makes up for the downfall in the US market, which has decreased from 17 million vehicles sales annually to 13 million.
Robertson doesn’t expect the situation to change soon, due to problems in the economy, and predicts only slight growth for BMW in the US market.
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