German company is now country's largest premium carmaker

BMW AG said it will strengthen its China strategy in 2020, as efforts to meet local demands have helped make it the country's most popular premium carmaker.

Battling the downward trend in the Chinese vehicle market, the German premium automaker delivered 723,680 BMW and MINI-branded vehicles, up 13.1 percent year-on-year, topping the list of premium vehicle companies in the country.

This was the company's best-ever sales result since it entered China in 1994 and accounted for around 28 percent of its global sales in 2019.

Jochen Goller, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, said understanding China's strategic significance and offering products and services that local customers demand are fundamental to its development in the country.

He made the remarks at an annual event last week in Beijing.

"In 2020, we will continue to expand our footprint 'In China, with China, for China and for the world',"Goller said.

"We, at BMW, are convinced that the upcoming decade will remain a 'decade of China'."

He said the carmaker will deepen its "2+4" China Strategy. The number 2 means BMW and MINI and while 4 represents for automated, connected, electrified and service, or ACES for short.

The company has promoted Level 3 and 4 autonomous functions in the country with local partners including China Unicom and Tencent.

The number of BMW Connected users has exceeded 2.3 million, while smart voice-control functions including BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant and Tmall Genie are already available in several series production models.

BMW is one of the best-selling premium new energy vehicle carmakers, with over 50,000 such vehicles already delivered in the country. Globally, half a million have been sold.

Over the past two years, BMW has been updating its lineup to better meet local customers' preferences. Over 40 new models have been introduced during that time.

In 2020, it will launch another 17 models in the country. Billing it as the Year of New Energy Vehicles, the carmaker will offer six such vehicles by the end of the year, including the China-made iX3 SUV. It will be the company's first electric vehicle that is made in China but sold globally.

Goller said BMW has set up a network of over 400 dealers that sell new energy vehicles and a charging network composed of 130,000 public poles.

The figure is expected to hit 250,000 by the end of 2020, covering 300 cities across the country.

The carmaker said 2020 will also be the Year of BMW brand, which will be driven by the introduction of more M models.

BMW has also made efforts to improve service experiences with its dealers.

In 2019, the automaker worked out some 1,500 specific measures to improve customer experience, most of which were implemented within the year.

It will further collaborate with innovative partners to expand and enrich in-car digitalized ecosystem to make the cars part of Chinese customers' digitalized life.

In terms of production facilities, its joint venture BMW Brilliance has the world's first production base featuring 5G technology.

Its second joint venture, which is established with China's Great Wall Motors, kicked off in late 2019. It will develop and produce electric MINI-branded vehicles for China and the world.

"China is not only the largest single market for the BMW Group worldwide, but also a trendsetter of innovation and future consumer trends," Goller said.

"This is why we need to establish a strong innovation and production system that is in China, with China, for China and for the world."