Borgward, the German car brand that Foton wanted to resurrect, is dead once again. This as the Chinese-owned German marque filed for bankruptcy at a Beijing court just this week.
Borgward, once Germany’s third largest automaker, was liquidated in 1961. In 2014, Foton purchased the rights to the Borgward brand to expand its reach into the Chinese passenger vehicle market. Just eight years later, they’re liquidating its assets once again.
From 2015 to 2019, Borgward rolled out four gasoline-powered crossovers, the BX3, BX5, BX6 and BX7, as well as a battery version of the BX7, in China. The vehicles were produced at a renovated Foton factory in suburban Beijing.
However, the brand failed to achieve meaningful sales and scale.
After reaching a peak of around 55,000 vehicles in 2019, Borgward’s annual deliveries shrank to some 3,600 vehicles in 2021.
There were plans to introduce the German brand to the Philippine market under Foton manufacturer and distributor, United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. (UAAGI) in 2017 to 2018, but those plans were shelved in favor of bringing in Chery Automotive.
Due to limited sales, Borgward racked up losses of more than 4 billion yuan (USD 564 million) from 2016 to 2018.
In 2021 alone, the brand incurred a loss of 4.7 billion yuan, according to Foton’s own filings on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where the company is listed.
These are just rebodied BAIC Senova SUVs but way more expensive.
ReplyDeleteBorgward..the name itself sounds like bankruptcy.
ReplyDelete