In order to keep up with the increase in demand, the German carmaker is reducing the proportion of imported vehicles in China to 30 percent compared to the previous 70 percent, according to Daimler AG Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche. To achieve this major sales growth, Daimler and BAIC have begun making plans for the introduction of four new models into the country before 2015.
One of these cars is the Mercedes Benz GLK-Klasse, which should arrive on the market by the end of this year. The other three will be new models that are yet to be released an should be built on completely redesigned platforms.
The fact that a luxury carmaker is doing well in China should come as no surprise to anyone who is following the international press, which is showing an increase in the country’s middle-class wealth, as well as high demand for western luxury goods.
Last year, Mercedes-Benz sold more than 50,000 vehicles in China, accounting for 35% of its global sales figure. The country is also the third and second biggest markets for the C-Klasse and E-Klasse models respectively.
Beijing Benz Automotive Co has an annual production capacity of between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles and expects to reach an annual capacity to 300,000 units a year by 2015, according to Mark Si, executive vice president for sales and marketing.
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