German automaker BMW announced that it would increase the prices of two crossover sport utility vehicles manufactured in China to cope with the additional cost of duties on imports of US cars into the larger market automobile of the world.
FILE PHOTO: The BMW logo is seen on a vehicle at the New York Auto Show in the Manhattan neighborhood in New York York, New York, USA, March 29, 2018. REUTERS / Shannon Stapleton / Photo File
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Add to favorites [19659008] BEIJING: German automaker BMW has announced that it will increase the prices of two crossover utility vehicles manufactured in China to cope with the additional cost of customs duties on imports of American cars in the largest car market in the world.
to take effect Monday, BMW said in a statement to Reuters over the weekend that it will increase manufacturer-suggest retail prices of popular SUVs X5 and X6 at relatively high margin of 4% to 7%.
Growth rates suggest that BMW is ready to absorb much of the higher costs The SUVs in China from its South Carolina plant, highlighting the fierce competition between luxury car brands in China .
The BMW move comes after China has imposed new rights on 34 billion US dollars of US imports, soybeans and lobster cars. Beijing, which this year reduced its tariffs on all cars imported into China, imposed an additional 25% tax on cars manufactured in the United States as of July 6. As a result, China now levies "BMW stands for freedom (trade) but can not stand still without taking action to respond to market changes," said a BMW spokesman in an e-mail to Reuters.
BMW imports X4, X5 and X6 crossover SUV models from the United States for sale in China, where demand for SUVs has exploded. Last year, the German automaker shipped more than 100,000 US vehicles to China.
The company has made no reference to the pricing of its X4 model.
BMW's decision to absorb much of the US car maker Ford Motor has announced that it would not increase its prices at the moment in order to maintain its commercial momentum.
Chinese auto dealers told Reuters that its German rival Mercedes Benz, operated by Daimler AG, moderately. increased the price in mid-July of its GLE, a sporty mid-size SUV produced in the state of Alabama, China.
A Daimler spokeswoman referred Reuters to comments made by the company last week
said last Thursday that the automaker was looking for ways to mitigate the impact of the trade war. Daimler also said last week that its pre-tax profits for 2018 would drop from last year because the new Chinese import tariffs would hurt sales of Mercedes-Benz SUVs.
19659009] (Report by Norihiko Shirouzu, edited by Richard Pullin)
