BMW: 2006 China car sales up 51.3%

German luxury carmaker BMW said on Friday it sold 51.3 percent more cars in the Chinese mainland in 2006 compared with a year earlier.

A customer checks out a car at a BMW showroom in Beijing, June 12, 2006. BMW said it sold 36,357 cars in China in 2006, up from 24,025 in 2005. [Reuters]

Total sales came to 36,357 cars, up from 24,025 in 2005, it said in a statement. Sales of BMW brands rose 49.6 percent to 35,300 units, with Minis up 145.8 percent to 1,057 units.

In the Greater China area including Taiwan and Hong Kong, BMW moved 44,719 vehicles last year, up 35.4 percent from 2005.

Many other foreign automakers also reported strong China sales last year as they rolled out new models to attract buyers.

Ford, a relative latecomer to the world's second- largest auto market, saw its sales surge 86.6 percent to 166,722 vehicles. Volkswagen sold 711,298 vehicles, up 24.3 percent, and General Motors was up 31.8 percent to 876,747.

BMW, the world's largest premium car maker, has teamed up with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd to produce the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series in a venture with an annual capacity of 30,000 cars in China's northern city of Shenyang.

The industry expects the venture to expand because it is already operating near full capacity, but BMW has not revealed plans for it.

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