China is the goldmine for nearly all luxury marques out there from Ferrari to Louis Vuitton. As per the figures revealed by Munich-based firm, now the largest automotive market of the world has overtaken United States as the largest market of BMW Group. In the first quarter of 2012, BMW Group that designs and develops BMW, Rolls Royce and MINI vehicles marketed 80.014 units in China, a rise of 37 percent from the same period in 2011. By contrast, BMW Group marketed 75.729 models during the same period in United States, that’s 17 percent up from the last year. Likely to see more upward movement, the company has recently introduced its F30 3 Series’ long wheelbase version for China. It features a 110mm longer wheelbase for catering to Chinese premium shoppers, who usually favor large cockpits.
This news comes as no surprise, that China is already the biggest market for the premium segment of BMW competitor Audi. Mercedes Benz is another German heavyweight that counts the Middle Kingdom as its 3rd biggest market after Germany and USA. Japanese automobile manufacturing companies such as Infiniti, Acura and Lexus are way behind Germans in China, as they lack brand cachet and do not create locally.
