Corporate News
By REUTERS
In Summary
Premium auto maker BMW has unveiled a luxury
concept sedan in Beijing, to gauge customer appetite for a car that
would cost more than German manufacturer’s current flagship 7 series
limousine.
The five-metre long vehicle, officially called the
“Vision Future Luxury” but also referred to as the 9-series, is aimed
at a growing class of ultra wealthy clients which are coveted by rival
brands such as Bentley.
Ian Robertson, BMW Group’s board member
responsible for sales and marketing said the car is being presented the
Auto China show in Beijing as a way to test customer opinion in the
world’s largest car market.
“There are a number of elements in that car and we
will gauge what people say and then we will take a view,” Mr Robertson
said, declining to comment on whether the vehicle, which featured carbon
fibre, lime wood, and aluminium, will ever go in to production.
Mr Robertson said that there may be a market niche
for cars costing somewhere in the range between 150,000 euros (Sh18
million) and 300,000 euros (Sh36 million) and that Chinese clients in
particular loved large luxurious cars.
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Around half of tall the 7-series flagship models
made by BMW end up being sold in China, Mr Robertson said. BMW Group’s
sales in China are up 25 per cent in the first quarter. For 2014, Mr
Robertson said he expects BMW Group to achieve low double digit growth.
The luxury passenger vehicle segment in China grew
20 per cent last year, outpacing volume sales growth which rose 14 per
cent to reach 21.98 million units according to the China Association of
Automobile Manufacturers.
BMW’s effort comes as rival Daimler is also
testing appetite for reviving its disbanded high-end Maybach brand, and
as the number of millionaires across the globe continues to rise.
Since mid-2012, the number of millionaires
worldwide has grown by nearly 2 million, the vast majority of them in
the United States and Asia, Credit Suisse said in its World Wealth
Report.
There are 98,700 individuals with assets worth
more than $50 million (Sh4.3 billion) each, and by 2018, global wealth
will jump a further 40 per cent , the Swiss bank’s study shows.
Upon being asked whether there was any truth to
the idea that Daimler may be on the brink of reviving the Maybach brand,
Zetsche smiled and said, “This is speculation. Speculation can be an
inspiration for us.”
Earlier this week Reuters reported that Daimler is
set to showcase a Maybach branded S-Class limousine at both the
Guangzhou and the Los Angeles auto shows in November.
The vehicle is set to cost more than double the
165,000-euro (Sh19.7 million) asking price of its current flagship, the
Mercedes-Benz S600.
Daimler stopped making bespoke Maybach limousines
in 2012 after efforts to sell cars based on a unique design and costing
around $380,000 (Sh32.9 million) failed to gain traction with clients.
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