BMW Group and Brilliance officially open Shenyang plant

Munich / Shenyang. The BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive
Holdings Limited today performed the Official Grand Opening Ceremony of
their joint venture plant in Shenyang, the capital of the Province
Liaoning in the North-East of the People's Republic of China. The event
was hosted by Helmut Panke, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW
AG, and Wu Xiao An, Chairman of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings
Limited. Governor Zhang Wenyue of Liaoning Province, Mayor Chen
Zhenggao of Shenyang and senior executives from both parties witnessed
the ceremony. "The joint venture is a milestone for the BMW
Group" said Panke. "With the Shenyang plant, we are very well
prepared to meet future challenges here in China. We want to dedicate
our efforts to China for the long term. I am convinced that together we
will make this joint venture a success that both partners will notably
benefit from." Wu Xiao An said: "Our cooperation with BMW is
a crucial step for Brilliance. It signals the success of both our
strategic partnership and the global vision of our company. The opening
of the Shenyang plant will speed up both parties to move into the vast
potentials of the fastest growing automotive market while giving many
more Chinese consumers the opportunity to enjoy the renowned quality of
BMW products." The joint venture is engaged in the production,
sales and after-sales service of premium automotive products of the BMW
Group. The BMW Group and its Chinese counterpart each hold a 50% share
in the joint venture. A total of 450 million euros is to be invested by
2005. In the medium term, an annual production of around 30,000 BMW 3
Series and 5 Series vehicles is envisaged. BMW Group with strong
presence in China The BMW Group regards the joint venture as a
fundamental step in its process of internationalisation. On the basis
of its ongoing product and market initiative, the company is
consistently strengthening its global presence and strategically
opening up new markets, particularly among the rapidly growing markets
in Asia. Over the next five years, the company is planning to increase
its annual sales in the Asian markets from around 93,000 units in 2003
to 150,000 by 2008. The BMW Group has been present in China with a
representative office in Beijing since 1994. During the subsequent
years, the BMW Group gradually expanded the scope of its operations in
China, successfully positioning itself as a leading supplier of premium
automotive products. In order to continue its successful development in
China, the BMW Group submitted a project proposal for a sino-foreign
joint venture in December 2001, together with the partner Brilliance
China Automotive Holdings. The jointly prepared project proposal was
approved in July 2002 by the State Council of the People?s Republic of
China. The approval of the following feasibility study was received
from the National Development and Reform Commission on 14 March 2003.
On 27 March 2003, the joint venture contract was officially signed at
the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The business license was
granted on 23 May 2003; on 1 July 2003, the joint venture BMW
Brilliance Automotive Co., Ltd. officially commenced operations. In
Shenyang, the joint venture incorporates essential parts of the new
plant built in 1999 by Brilliance Auto, expanding these local
operations into a fully-fledged production facility in line with the
worldwide high BMW Group standards of quality. The first BMW 3 Series
came off the assembly line in September 2003. In the medium term, the
joint venture will employ approximately 3,000 staff. The dealer
network in the Chinese mainland currently consists of 27 outlets and
will be adapted continuously to the production volume. Global
production and sales network further strengthened With the joint venture
in Shenyang, the BMW Group operates 23 production and assembly plants
in 14 countries, including six in Asia (Malaysia, Vietnam, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and China). The sales network of the
BMW Group consists of 33 own sales subsidiaries and some 3,000
dealerships around the world. Smaller markets are currently served by
more than 120 importers. The BMW Group is thus represented in over 150
countries on all five continents. No other premium manufacturer has
recourse to such an internationally oriented network of production and
sales. Chinese markets among BMW Group's Top Ten sales markets The
company is continuing on a path of ongoing growth particularly in the
Chinese markets. In the first four months of 2004, sales of BMW, MINI
and Rolls-Royce automobiles were up by 41,4%, from 6,065 in the same
period last year to 8,580 automobiles. Deliveries to customers in the
Chinese Mainland increased by 56,7% to 5,827 automobiles (up to April
2003: 3,719 automobiles). This figure includes 3,877 BMW 3 and 5 Series
models produced locally by the joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive
Co., Ltd. BMW Group's total sales volume in Asia in the first four
months of 2004 amounted to to 29,799 deliveries (prev.yr.: 25,387),
this corresponds to an increase of 17.4%. In the 2003 financial year,
the Chinese markets ranked for the first time among BMW Group's Top Ten
sales markets. With a 75 per cent sales increase to more than 27,000
automobiles (thereof more than 3,000 locally produced BMW 3 and 5
Series), these markets have moved up to the 8th place. In 2002, the
Chinese markets had ranked the 12th-largest market for BMW Group
products. The BMW Group anticipates a continuing upward trend
particularly in the premium segments in China in the years to come.