BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s BMW will build its X5 mid-size luxury vehicle – currently produced in the United States – in China, a company spokesperson said on Monday.
“To satisfy the strong worldwide demand for the BMW X5, we are expanding our global production capacity of the popular Sports Activity Vehicle. We will be adding localized production of the BMW X5 in China, for the Chinese market,” the spokesperson said, without providing a start date.
X5 cars sold in China have so far been produced at BMW’s Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. Added production in China will not affect production volumes at South Carolina plant, the statement said.
The statement followed a report earlier on Monday by Handelsblatt that BMW was planning to begin production of the X5 in China from 2022.
BMW sold just under 700,000 cars in China from January to September this year, up nearly 20% from last year and constituting around a third of all sales in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Finance chief Nicolas Peter said in September he was confident sales would increase next year.
The move mirrors a decision by BMW in 2018 to produce 10,000 to 20,000 X5 SUVs in Thailand to supply Chinese customers after China instated a 40 percent tariff on imports from the United States.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin, Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Alex Richardson)
