BMW '09 China sales up 38% to 90,536 cars

BMW, the world's biggest maker of premium cars, said today that it sold 90,536 cars in China last year, up 38 percent year on year, Reuters reported.

BMW's sales in mainland China in 2009 included its BMW and Mini brands, which came to a record 90,536 units, from 65,822 units sold in 2008, the German car company said in a statement.

In the Greater China area, including the mainland, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong, BMW sold 98,869 cars in 2009, up 31.2 percent from a year earlier, it added.

In China's luxury car segment, BMW competes with Audi and Mercedes-Benz brands. Last year in China, Volkswagen's luxury Audi brand sold 158,941 units, up 32.9 percent, and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz sold 68,500 cars, up 77 percent.

BMW expects a gradual recovery in global sales this year, with double-digit growth in China to offset its domestic downturn, the company said last month.

China has become the fourth-biggest market for BMW after Germany, the US and the UK, and the continued strong growth in China, now the world's largest, will likely make it the No. 3 market for BMW in the next few years.

The sales boom in China has driven BMW and its local partner Brilliance Auto to invest $735 million to expand a plant in Shenyang that makes 3-series and 5-series sedans.