BMW May Add Plant in Shenyang

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<p>German luxury carmaker BMW's joint venture with Brilliance China Auto is expected to build a second plant in the Liaoning capital to meet growing demand in the world's second biggest vehicle market, a government official said.</p><p>Liu Guoqiang, vice-governor of Liaoning, said yesterday at a ceremony marking the joint venture's fifth anniversary that the new plant will double annual production capacity to 80,000 cars.</p><p>Construction of the new factory is expected to begin this year, Liu said.</p><p>Friedrich Eichiner, a BMW board member, didn't confirm Liu's remarks yesterday, saying: "It is in the planning process and we are evaluating alternatives."</p><p>BMW brand sales on the mainland grew by a quarter year-on-year to 28,766 cars in the first half, including 16,196 units of the 3 and 5 Series sedans from the joint venture.</p><p>"We are confident that we will achieve new record sales by the end of the year," Eichiner said. Last year, BMW brand sales on the mainland exceeded 49,300 units.</p><p>BMW will increase the number of its authorized dealerships to 120 by the end of this year from 90 last year to boost sales.</p><p>Alfred Rupp, CEO of the joint venture, said it plans to source 4.4 billion yuan of China-made spare parts this year, up from 3.6 billion yuan in 2007.</p><p>He said the joint venture will have a total of 150 local spare parts suppliers by the end of this year, up from 100 last year.</p><p>China's booming economy has spurred growing demand for luxury cars.</p><p>Audi, Volkswagen's premium brand, sold 59,902 vehicles in China in the first half of this year, an increase of 23 percent from a year ago.</p><p>Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz's China sales surged by 52 percent to 18,000 units.</p><p>Overall vehicle sales in China rose by 18.52 percent to 5.18 million units in the first half of this year, according to industry data.</p><p>Full-year sales are predicted to hit 10 million units, up from 8.8 million last year.</p>