BMW, Mercedes chase ultra rich Chinese

Beijing: Premium auto maker BMW unveiled a luxury concept sedan in Beijing on Monday, to gauge customer appetite for a car that would cost more than German manufacturer’s current flagship 7 series limousine.The 5 meter long vehicle, officially called the “Vision Future Luxury” but also referred to as the 9-series, is aimed at a growing class of ultra wealthy clients which are coveted by rival brands such as Bentley.

Ian Robertson, BMW Group’s board member, said the car is being presented the Auto China as a way to test customer opinion in the world’s largest car market. “There are a number of elements in that car and we will gauge what people say and then we will take a view,” Mr Robertson said, declining to comment on whether the vehicle, which featured carbon fibre, lime wood, and aluminium, will ever go in to production.

Mr Robertson said that there may be a market niche for cars costing somewhere in the range between 150,000 euros and 300,000 euros and that Chinese clients in particular loved luxurious cars. Around half of tall the 7 series flagship models made by BMW end up being sold in China, Mr Robertson said. BMW Group’s sales in China are up 25 percent in the first quarter. For 2014 Mr Robertson said he expects BMW Group to achieve low double digit growth.

The luxury passenger vehicle segment in China grew 20 per cent last year, outpacing volume sales growth which rose 14 percent to reach 21.98 million units, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. BMW’s effort comes as rival Daimler is also testing appetite for reviving its disbanded high end Maybach brand, and as the number of millionaires across the globe continues to rise. Since mid2012, the number of millionaires worldwide has grown by nearly 2 million, the vast majority of them in the United States and Asia, Credit Suisse said in its World Wealth Report.