"China has become a global leader in electric vehicles and a key driver of digitalization." Nicholas Peter, chief financial officer of Germany's BMW Group and director of China affairs, said in an exclusive interview recently that China will be the world's largest in the next few years. The new energy vehicle market is also the best choice and best partner for BMW to transform into electrification, digitization and sustainable development.

Currently, the BMW Group is accelerating electrification. In 2022, BMW plans to double its global sales of pure electric vehicles from 2021, Peter said. The realization of this plan is inseparable from China's new energy vehicle market. In 2021, China's new energy vehicle sales will increase by about 1.6 times year-on-year. Optimistic about this situation, Peter set the proportion of pure electric vehicles in BMW's total sales in the Chinese market at 25% in 2025.

Peter told reporters that BMW "uses China as its home" to accelerate its electrification transformation. In the first quarter of 2022, BMW's sales of pure electric vehicles in the Chinese market tripled compared to the same period last year. On May 5, 2022, the all-new BMW i3 specially built for the Chinese market officially rolled off the production line at the Rida Plant, a production base in Shenyang. At the same time, BMW is also expanding its electric vehicle portfolio in the Chinese market. BMW currently offers five pure electric vehicles to Chinese customers, and by 2023 there will be around 13 models.

According to a recent research report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers Germany, in the first quarter of 2022, global sales of pure electric vehicles increased by 107% year-on-year, "mainly due to the Chinese market." BEVs sold in China accounted for two-thirds of global EV sales during the quarter. The report also shows that German automakers have made impressive achievements in the field of pure electric vehicles in the Chinese market, and the market share of German car manufacturers in China's pure electric vehicles has increased to 4%, double the same period in 2021.

Peter said that in the long run, China will remain the world's largest auto market. He said the Chinese government's policies and measures to boost consumption are "very important to the entire market."Editor/XuNing