Photo: Borgward
The First Intermediate People's Court in Beijing has approved the bankruptcy petition filed by the German brand Borgward, now in Chinese ownership, on April 8, 2022.
The Borgward brand, once the third-largest German manufacturer by volume, is bankrupt. According to Automotive News, Borgward is now awaiting court approval to liquidate all its assets.
For those who are not familiar with the name, Borgward was founded in 1919 and went bankrupt once before in 1961 when brand founder Carl F.W. Borgward did not have enough money to invest in new products. However, the 1961 bankruptcy was preceded by the best period in the company's history. By the 1950s, Borgward had become the third-largest manufacturer in Germany.
The Borgward brand was revived in 2014 by Beiqi Foton Motor, a truck subsidiary of state-owned automaker BAIC Group, which bought the rights to the brand for $5 million and tried to expand into the Chinese market.
The Chinese at Foton have developed four gasoline-powered crossovers - the BX3, BX5, BX6, and BX7, the latter having the size of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5. Later, Foton also developed an electric version of the BX7.
But Borgward was never profitable, failing to reach the expected sales figures. The best-selling model was the BX7, with 30,000 units delivered in 2017 and 45,000 in 2019, when they hit record sales with 55,000 units in total. But then sales dropped dramatically to 8,703 in 2020 and 3,600 in 2021. Borgward was selling cars in China, Nepal, and Malaysia, and they tried to enter the European market as well.
Borgward lost $564 million between 2016 and 2018, and in 2019 Foton decided to sell the brand to Chinese start-up Ucar. But Ucar also failed to stabilize the German-born brand, which lost $669 million in 2021 alone. According to Chinese media, debts to suppliers amount to $618 million.
Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, the car manufacturer had plans to open a plant in Bremen in 2019, where it would have produced 10,000 units a year. But it failed to open said plant due to a lack of cash.
For those who are not familiar with the name, Borgward was founded in 1919 and went bankrupt once before in 1961 when brand founder Carl F.W. Borgward did not have enough money to invest in new products. However, the 1961 bankruptcy was preceded by the best period in the company's history. By the 1950s, Borgward had become the third-largest manufacturer in Germany.
The Borgward brand was revived in 2014 by Beiqi Foton Motor, a truck subsidiary of state-owned automaker BAIC Group, which bought the rights to the brand for $5 million and tried to expand into the Chinese market.
The Chinese at Foton have developed four gasoline-powered crossovers - the BX3, BX5, BX6, and BX7, the latter having the size of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5. Later, Foton also developed an electric version of the BX7.
But Borgward was never profitable, failing to reach the expected sales figures. The best-selling model was the BX7, with 30,000 units delivered in 2017 and 45,000 in 2019, when they hit record sales with 55,000 units in total. But then sales dropped dramatically to 8,703 in 2020 and 3,600 in 2021. Borgward was selling cars in China, Nepal, and Malaysia, and they tried to enter the European market as well.
Borgward lost $564 million between 2016 and 2018, and in 2019 Foton decided to sell the brand to Chinese start-up Ucar. But Ucar also failed to stabilize the German-born brand, which lost $669 million in 2021 alone. According to Chinese media, debts to suppliers amount to $618 million.
Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, the car manufacturer had plans to open a plant in Bremen in 2019, where it would have produced 10,000 units a year. But it failed to open said plant due to a lack of cash.
Google News