New CEO: Quality and rising services

Karsten Engel, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, announces the company's new strategies at a news conference before the opening of the Auto Shanghai 2013. [Photos Provided to China Daily]

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As China's premium car market decelerates, BMW thinks it is the right time to bolster quality and cultivate new aspects of the overall business, said its new China chief.

Meeting the local press prior to the Shanghai Auto Show, Karsten Engel, recently appointed president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, said moderate growth is good because it lifts the pressure for more quantity rather greater quality that characterizes a rapidly growing environment.

He said the company will continue its strategy to build "viable and strong fundamentals" in China and develop "stably and sustainably".

In the first quarter of the year, BMW delivered a combined 86,000 of its namesake nameplate cars and MINI vehicles, an increase of nearly 8 percent over a year ago.

The performance is "okay" considering the country's total premium car sales edged up just 4 percent in the same period, Engel said.

He added that the segment will probably see around 10 percent growth this year and BMW aims to outpace that number and win more market share.

The carmaker now imports a rich lineup of vehicles into the Chinese market and produces its 3 Series, 5 Series and X1 at its local joint venture.

Engel said the company will further expand the imported product portfolio and bring "all the new models and all the latest technologies" to China.

"In the long run, there will be more models produced locally," he added.

Engel also said that the company will maintain a similar rate of network expansion as last year.

By the end of March, BMW had about 370 dealerships in China, the most among all premium carmakers. It is also the first luxury brand to have outlets in many small cities.

Earlier this month, BMW opened new dealerships in Liyang, Jiangsu province and Bengbu, Anhui province - cities probably unknown to foreigners and even a number of Chinese natives.

Engel said that the company will open more stores in third, fourth and even fifth-tier cities in years to come.

There are some 100 cities with populations over 1 million people in China that now have no premium car dealership, according to industry statistics.

That's a lot of potential, said Engel.