Chinese BMW 5 Series Plug-In Comes in April

Having experienced a great deal of success in the past few years on the Chinese market, German auto maker BMW is planning to further strengthen its position there and announced this week a very interesting premiere for next month's Shanghai Motor Show.

Starting from a long-wheelbase 5 Series, the car maker developed, in China, a plug-in hybrid version of the model, which will only be sold on the local market. The concept to be shown next month will be called New Energy Vehicle and will use a power train which might spawn, in the near future, variants which will be used on other BMW plug-in hybrid models around the world. The details about the power train have not yet been announced.

The expansion of the BMW presence in China has already been confirmed as a move to be made with the help of the vehicles from a new age. BMW said at the beginning of the year that in 2013 it would be launching a locally-built electric vehicle, developed with the help of local partner Brilliance.

The ActiveE model which ended up giving birth to the new i brand will also get a Chinese version, and will be launched for testing later this year. The dying MINI E will also hit the Chinese roads in Beijing and Shenzhen starting 2011.

China has slowly become BMW's third largest market, forcing BMW to decide on building a second production plant in the country ever since 2009. Starting next year, the car maker is planning to sell 150,000 vehicles in China.