BMW expects higher China sales in 2023, finance chief says By Reuters

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<span>© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: BMW&#8217;s concept model i Vision Dee is unveiled during an event at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo</span><br />
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<p>By Christina Amann</p>
<p>MUNICH (Reuters) &#8211; BMW (ETR:) expects to sell more cars in China this year despite a local price war in the electric vehicle (EV) segment, and muted demand overall, the luxury carmaker&#8217;s chief financial officer (CFO) said at the IAA (NYSE:) car show in Munich.</p>
<p>In his first interview since becoming finance chief in May, Walter Mertl told Reuters that BMW had been able to grow 3.7% in China in the first half, faster than the world&#8217;s top auto market as a whole, and expected this trend to continue.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are assuming, and we are seeing this at the moment, that we will sell more this year than last year,&#8221; Mertl said with regard to China, adding that the price war was predominantly affecting the cheaper segments of the auto market, where BMW is not active.</p>
<p>China&#8217;s passenger vehicle sales fell for a second month in July, as discounts and government support measures failed to lure consumers wary of buying cars amid a sputtering economy and a prolonged slump in the housing market.</p>
<p>Price cuts made by Tesla (NASDAQ:) in early 2023 have spread to numerous brands in China, with General Motors (NYSE:) and Volkswagen (ETR:) joining a fresh round of cuts in the summer.</p>
<p>BMW recently raised its 2023 outlook for group vehicle sales and said it expects solid growth, which is defined as anywhere between 5% and 9.9%. In 2022, vehicles sales had declined by 4.8% to around 2.4 million; in China, they were down 6.4% to 791,985.</p>
<p>Mertl said that the phase-out of grants to boost electric vehicles in Germany would cause a temporary drop in demand. &#8220;But afterwards things will continue as normal.&#8221;</p>
<p>BMW, which on Saturday released details about its new electric platform &#8220;Neue Klasse&#8221;, plans to raise the share of EVs in total vehicles sold to 15% in 2023 and 20% in 2024, from around 9% in 2022. </p>
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