Beijing Benz Vice President, Secretary Wei: GLK will be produced at the end of next year

Cai Che, chairman of Daimler Group, once said something to the media this year: "Five years later, Mercedes-Benz products in China can reach 300,000 sales, of which the proportion of domestic cars will account for 70%." In the next few years, how will Beijing Benz develop? During the Guangzhou Auto Show 2010, the executive vice president of Beijing Benz executives accepted an exclusive interview with this reporter.

Q: Can you first introduce the overall situation of Beijing Benz in 2010?

Siwei: In 2010, it continued to sell C-Class sedans on the basis of 2009, and introduced a new long-wheelbase E-Class sedan in mid-year. So far, Beijing Benz has fully grasped the goal of completing 50,000 sales at the end of the year. Including 26,000 C-Class sedans and 24,000 E-class sedans, the E-Class includes the standard wheelbase E 200 CGI imported by Beijing Benz itself. The current sales volume in the Guangdong market accounts for approximately 10% of the country's total sales.

Q: How will Beijing Benz plan next year?

Siwei: This year, Mercedes-Benz's domestic-made cars account for about 30% of China's sales, and imported cars are about 70%. The proportion of domestic-made car plans will increase to around 50% next year. The sales ratio of C-class and E-class cars will be approximately 5:3, and the production and sales target for next year will be 80,000. In terms of production capacity, Beijing Benz’s current production capacity can reach 80,000-100,000/year, but according to Zeche’s expectations, the sales ratio of domestic Mercedes-Benz vehicles will reach 70% by 2015, for which we will also increase production capacity. In the next few years, we will increase investment in the following areas: Continue to transform existing production lines, expand new factories, build engine plants and build R&D centers.

Q: In terms of new models, which models will be planned for the next few years?

Siwei: It is certain that the new E200L CGI elegant and E300L luxury models will also be introduced. At the same time, the C-Class sedan will also introduce a modified model. In addition, the localization of GLK has also been put on the agenda for the end of next year or early 2012. From now until 2015, Beijing Benz plans to launch a total of four models, plus the existing C, E-class models, will plan to have six models. In addition to the GLK models, the other three models are not intended to be domestically produced by Mercedes-Benz's existing models. Instead, they plan to introduce new Mercedes-Benz branded products. In other words, the latest models developed by Mercedes-Benz will be domestically produced at the same time.

Q: What do you think about the future trend of Chinese luxury cars?

Siwei: According to the relevant data, China's luxury car market accounts for 5%-6% of the entire automobile market, but Germany's share is 30%. However, the development of China's luxury car market is faster than the development of the entire passenger car market. From the data, the growth rate of the luxury car market in China is now 58%; the development of the entire car market is 39%. Therefore, for the rapidly growing economy in the Chinese market, there is no doubt that the luxury car market has great potential for development.