Mercedes, BMW and Audi are having to offer discounts of up to 25 per cent on luxury cars in China to shift stock. The huge Chinese car market has been seen as a sales salvation for Western car makers; the automotive equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. But it looks like that’s all changing, particularly […]
BMW to EXPORT 5-Series from China
BMW are planning to export the 5-Series, made in China by Brilliance-BMW, to neighbouring Asian countries. When you think about luxury cars in China, you think of big imports from the West at premium prices for newly wealthy Chinese. But BMW are planning to turn that on its head. BMW’s China CEO has revealed that before the […]
BMW Brilliance New Energy Vehicle – it’s a plug-in BMW 5-Series Hybrid
BMW and its Chinese partner Brilliance reveal a LWB 5-Series plug-in hybrid for the China market ahead of the Shanghai Motor Show. The Shanghai Motor Show is looming, and we’re starting to see pre-show reveals cropping up. But this is one reveal that has no real impact on anywhere but China, but is interesting nonetheless. […]
BMW M3 Matte Edition: China only
BMW has released a new limited edition M3 in China – the BMW M3 Matte Edition – with a matt paint job, carbon fibre interior and bespoke alloys. It’s less than a year since China got it’s last BMW M3 special – the BMW M3 Tiger Edition – so we’re guessing it sold rather well as BMW […]
Brilliance A3: China’s BMW X1 substitute. A Rose by any other name?
BMW’s Chinese partner Brilliance is to launch a BMW X1 lookalike at the Shanghai Motor Show in April – the Brilliance A3 The easy headline would be ‘Brilliance A3 – BMW X1 Clone’. But that would be a little unfair to Brilliance. Western car makers – as we’ve mentioned many times before – are compelled […]
BMW 5 Series Electric for China
BMW and Chinese parter Brilliance are reported to be building an electric 5 Series based on the 5 Series EfficientDynamics Hybrid. BMW are pushing ahead with hybrids across their range, and the 5 Series hybrid was shown at the Geneva Motor Show last year. But it now seems as if BMW are going a step […]
BMW X7 back on?
It looks like BMW are planning on building a new, range-topping SUV – the BMW X7 – aimed squarely at China’s new rich. Yes, yet another BMW X-Something to consider – the BMW X7. This time an enormous SUV that was canned as an idea a couple of years ago when the world went in […]
BMW X1 – Made in China
With expanded capacity coming on line in China, BMW are to start production of the BMW X1 in Shenyang for the China market. We reported in November that BMW, together with its Chinese partner Brilliance, was planning a new factory in China to produce an extra 100,000 BMWs a year by 2012, and was looking to […]
BMW invests £450 million in China
BMW and its Chinese partner Brilliance are to invest up to £450 million to build a new plant in China and extend the BMW range. The car market in China is seen as the big future for car makers. Rising at a tremendous rate (up 75% this year) China is a place car makers need […]