BMW China Sales

[TurboDan]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4466359.html

BMW Says China Sales Up 51 Percent

BEIJING ? German automaker BMW AG said Friday its 2006 sales in China rose 51.3 percent amid a luxury car boom.

Sales in China last year totaled 36,357 automobiles, and sales in the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, rose 35.4 percent to 44,710 units, BMW said.

Sales for BMW's Mini division grew by about 250 percent to 1,057 units, the company said.

Demand for luxury vehicles has grown among newly rich Chinese entrepreneurs. BMW's Rolls Royce unit announced earlier that its China sales rose 60 percent last year, though it did not release the number of cars sold.

BMW manufactures BMW-brand cars in China in a joint venture with a local partner, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd.