Triumphant BMW gears up for much stronger performance in 2018

BMW Group will launch 16 new products in China to embrace a crucial 2018 and achieve greater success with its partners, after having achieved solid double-digit growth this year with steady development and improved quality.

The premium brand keeps improving "emotional ties" with customers, according to BMW management teams. They were sharing their confident forecasts for the Chinese market at the BMW New Year Media Workshop surrounded by fragrant Wintersweet flowers, used as a festive decoration.

"We are happy to be getting close to a (sales) volume of 600,000 units for the first time in China," said Olaf Kastner, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China.

Olaf Kastner, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, gives a speech at the company's New Year media conference held in Beijing on Dec 15. Photos Provided to China Daily

"However, our focus is more on the quality side instead of pure quantity," added Kastner, who was speaking at the workshop in Beijing on Friday.

In the first 11 months of this year, a total of 542,362 BMW and Mini cars were delivered to Chinese customers, representing year-on-year growth of 14.7 percent, higher than total full-year deliveries in 2016 and taking the automaker to a new sales record.

The BMW Group has launched 14 new products in China in the current year. With a product lineup that consists of 154 variants from 42 models, BMW says its brand perfectly meets customers' increasingly individualized and diverse needs.

In the high-end market, the BMW 7 Series, which overtook its peers in the first half, and the BMW X5, have become No 1 in their respective market segments.

The BMW 3 series sedan is a main driving force for sales, and the all-new BMW 5 Series Li, which hit the market in the middle of this year, has experienced robust growth.

The BMW Group and its partner BMW Brilliance achieved significant milestones in their localization in 2017, making them the industry leader in localized research, development and production, according to its leaders.

"At BMW Brilliance, we have a clear vision: in China, for China. Guided by this vision, our company entered a new stage of development this year - a deeper localization," said Johann Wieland, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive.

The new Dadong plant, which was opened in May, is a model for the application of the German "Industry 4.0" industrial strategy. The High-voltage Battery Centre, inaugurated in October, has created a precedent for premium car joint ventures in China, BMW believes.

BMW Brilliance' production system won an award for being one of China's Top 10 Intelligent Manufacturing Advancements in 2017 from the China Association for Science and Technology, making BMW the only auto brand to receive such an achievement.

The successful development fulfilled core business aims in 2017, with both sales and quality having improved, and BMW is confident of a more successful year in 2018, the company said.

BMW has continued to stick to its "customer-centric" and "quality first" business strategies to enhance its capabilities in 2017, realizing high-quality development regarding products, brand, its dealership network and localization.

"Qualitative growth means we have solid sales growth with our products, happy customers, healthy dealers, and our brands are even more appealing to customers," said Jochen Goller, senior vice-president of BMW Brilliance.

"Our strategy is to leverage the BMW brand strength, and we will enhance the bond with our customers, creating emotional relationships."

Both the BMW and the Mini brands have defended their No 1 positions in the International Aftersales Customer Satisfaction survey.

The BMW Group's strategy is to remain focused on customers and the quality of its business, and it has been adhering to high-quality and sustainable growth, based on its long-term commitment to the Chinese market.

Its customer-centric strategy will be the principle guiding everything the company does. BMW Group continued to strengthen its customer relationship management and after-sales services for over 3 million Chinese customers in 2017.

It will continue its strong product offensive with a total of 16 new models in 2018, to further enhance the brand experience for customers and promote digitalized innovation.

The automaker will launch 16 new products under its BMW and Mini brands. These new offerings, together with the newly-launched all-new BMW 5 Series Li and the innovative BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo, will freshen its lineups and further boost sustainable growth

As a highlight, BMW will usher in "the Year of the X" in 2018. The new BMW X2 will be provided for young customers as a very stylish and personalized sports activity vehicle.

The new BMW X3 will enter local production, which will lead the new premium vehicle consumption trend with its imposing design, peerless innovative features and connectivity technologies.

More new models from the BMW X range will be unveiled, which will push the BMW X family's impressive global sales of 5.5 million units to date to a new high.

"Looking into the future, BMW will consolidate its achievements with 25 new energy vehicles to be offered by 2025, including 12 fully electric cars," said Michael Liu, president of BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd.

haoyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/18/2017 page19)