BMW Group delivers over 93,000 cars in Asia last year

The BMW Group delivered 93,030 cars in Asia last year (prev yr: 78,527)
an increase of 18.5%, making the group the leading car company in the
region's premium segment for the 2nd consecutive year. This consists of
78,754 units of BMW brand vehicles, 14,266 units of MINI cars and 10
units Rolls-Royce motor cars. With this new record BMW sales in Asia,
the brand BMW has for the first time become the number one premium car
brand in the world?s most dynamic economic region. These Asia results
were announced at a press conference this morning by Dr Helmut Panke
(Chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG), against the background
of the BMW Group worldwide deliveries in excess of 1.1 million
vehicles, an increase of 4.5% (prev yr: 1,057,350). Elaborating on the
2003 results, Mr Lueder Paysen (Senior Vice-President, BMW Group sales
division) said BMW's top model the BMW 7 Series contributed
significantly last year with a 72% jump in sales to 14,911 units (prev
yr: 8,683). "This translates into a 46% market share of the
segment of large luxury limousines from Germany and is a strong
indicator of a brand's strength. To put this in perspective, our
best-ever annual sales with the previous 7 Series in Asia was about
5,000 units", he added. Other major sales increases came from the
BMW Z4 roadster and the BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle, that
contributed 3345 units (+113.7%, prev yr: 1,565) and 5,987 units
(+48.9%; prev yr:4,021) respectively. The BMW 3 Series fell 3.8% to
35318 units (prev yr: 36,107) but it remains the clear leader in its
segment, while the 5 Series managed a 14% increase to 19,171 units
(prev yr: 16,862) thanks to the extremely efficient production start-up
of the new 5 Series, as well as the continuing strong sales of the
previous model insome markets. Sales of the MINI in 2003 continued its
upward climb with a 34% surge to 14,266 units (prev yr:10,639). Dr
Panke attributed this success to the company's attractive products and
its increased presence in Asia at virtually all strategic locations in
Asia: · The BMW Group is now operating six Asian subsidiaries in
Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
· Other Asia-Pacific markets are managed by BMW Asia - the
regional corporate office in Singapore. Since its formation in 1985,
BMW Asia was also instrumental in helping to identify, establish and
support new BMW sales subsidiaries in important Asian markets. ·
In China, the company is engaged in a sales and manufacturing joint
venture (BMW Brilliance Automotive Co. Ltd) in Shenyang, that has been
manufacturing BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series models for the Chinese
market since the fall of 2003. · Out of Malaysia, the group is
steering its logistics for the Asian region - for example by having one
of three worldwide regional data centres there. In addition, a regional
parts distribution centre will begin operating in August 2004 in
Malaysia. · The BMW Group and its partners are operating five
assembly plants in Asia - Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand,
Malaysia and Vietnam. The plant in Thailand, which is a wholly-owned
subsidiary is the only location outside of Germany that manufactures
the BMW 7 Series. On the product front, the BMW Group presented more
new cars than ever before: examples are the Rolls-Royce Phantom, the
model updates of the BMW 3 Series, the new BMW 5 Series limousine, the
new BMW X3, the model updates of the BMW X5, as well as the all new BMW
6 Series Coupe. Dr Panke also highlighted the development of the
Rolls-Royce brand in Asia last year, which was to lay a solid
foundation by establishing exclusive dealerships in Beijing, Guangzhou,
Hong Kong, Jakarta, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. In addition, an
Asia regional office for the Rolls-Royce brand was set up in Singapore
last year to steer activities in the region. "In the mid term we
expect the Asian region to account for 15 to 20 percent of our worldwide
Rolls-Royce sales", he said. Market figures In Japan, BMW Group
sales rose 7.5% (to 48,678 units) despite the sluggish Japanese car
market, making it the leader in the premium car segment of Japan. And
although the MINI was largely responsible for the increase with its 29%
rise in sales to 12,517 units, BMW cars also registered a slight
improvement by 1.6% to over 36,000 units. Other highlights are that the
3 Series became Japan?s best-selling import car and BMW Japan ended the
year on a very strong note as its December sales of over 6,200 BMW cars
is a new monthly record. China was the BMW Group's star performer
last year. Sales on the mainland alone nearly tripled from 6,677 units
in 2002 to 18,679 units last year. This sales data also includes 3,052
units of our locally produced 3 and 5 Series cars. Another highlight is
that 7 Series sales on the mainland grew by about 3.5 times to over
7,100 units and China became our largest market worldwide for the 760Li
model (962 units in China), the most expensive car in the BMW model
range. In the exclusive imported premium car category, BMW car sales
of over 15,000 units makes it the leading brand on the mainland, nearly
twice as high as its closest competitor. In the mature Hong Kong car
market, BMW Group sales fell 4% to about 2,600 units but the BMW
brand's market share of total passenger cars climbed from 11% to an
impressive 14% last year. Another highly competitive car market is
Taiwan, which also saw a slight drop in BMW Group sales by 5% to some
5,800 units. However, BMW remained the leading premium brand in Taiwan.
Over in Korea, BMW deliveries grew by about 10% to over 5,600 units (the
MINI is not offered in Korea). This relatively modest increase, is
largely due to more competition in the foreign car segment in Korea and
to the transition of the 5 Series. Nevertheless, the wider market data
shows that BMW is still the clear leader in Korea, its sales are almost
double that of its closest European competitor. BMW Group deliveries
in Thailand fell by 25% to about 3,000 units, largely due to a
contracting luxury car market and the model change-over of the 5 Series.
Like other right-hand-drive markets in which the 5 Series is locally
assembled, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, the locally-assembled new 5
Series will not be available yet until around the middle of 2004.
Nevertheless, there are other highlights such as the success of the 7
Series in Thailand with record deliveries of 462 cars and a market
share in this segment of 41%. The BMW plant in Thailand's Rayong
province will also continue its successful export program under the
Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). Last year, the 3 Series was exported
to Indonesia, this will be followed up by 7 Series exports this year.
Across the border in Malaysia, 2003 saw the establishment BMW Malaysia
with the Sime Darby Group in August 2003. In addition to the sales
subsidiary, the BMW Group also invested over € 21.55 million in
Malaysia for a Regional Data Centre and a Regional Distribution Centre
for parts and accessories. On the sales front, deliveries last year
fell by 9% to about 2,100 units due to the model change-over of the 5
Series and the overall car market contraction of the car market by
dipped 11% or 43,000 units as consumers waited for impending changes to
the tax structure for cars. Moving further south to Singapore, overall
BMW Group sales in this market inched up by about 1% to 2,300 units on
the back of higher deliveries of the MINI, that offset the 4% drop in
BMW car registrations due to the 5 Series model change. More
significantly, for the second year in a row, the 7 Series is the
leading luxury limousine among Singapore's elite. In other developments,
the BMW Asia corporate office here in Singapore is adding further
regional functions to its role, as a result it is moving out of its
existing Orchard Road office to new larger premises elsewhere in
Singapore. Continuing our journey south to Indonesia, BMW sales fell
18% last year to about 1,800 units. This is largely due to the 5 Series
model change. Like Malaysia, the 5 Series is a significant model that
is locally-assembled and the new 5 Series is not available in this form
until around the middle of this year. In the Philippines, BMW chalked
up a 17% growth in sales to 800 units, continuing the upward pattern
since the establishment of BMW Philippines in 2001. BMW now dominates
the premium segment of the Philippines with a market share of over 60%
and all BMW models out-selling its equivalent competitors. The five
exclusive BMW dealership network will now be increased by a further two
in the course of this year. In the emerging market of Vietnam, BMW
sales registered its second highest percentage growth after China.
Although sales last year were a modest 500 units plus, this was more
than double of 2002 sales, a sign of the ever increasing dynamism of
the Vietnamese market. This success, coupled with the 75% jump in the
passenger car market, shows that it is indeed a market to look out for
in the long term. Management changes Dr Panke also took the
opportunity to announce that Mr Paysen, who turns 60 in March 2004,
will go into retirement. He will be succeeded by Mr. Kalbfell, 54. Mr
Paysen has been in charge of Asia for the BMW Group since 1994 and is
largely credited with much of the company's success in this region over
the last decade. Mr kalbfell, has been heading the worldwide marketing
activities of the BMW Group to date as Senior Vice President Group
Marketing. Dr Panke said: "As you can see, we have succeeded in
filling this key position with a very experienced and highly qualified
executive. The choice of Mr. Paysen's successor pays tribute to the
significance that the Asian sales region holds for us, and the priority
we are placing into our activities here."