At the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, Borgward presented an edition of his 1950s Sedan Isabella. The concept never made it into production.
STUTTGART – The rebirth of the iconic German Borgward logo with Chinese backing turns out to sink.
Borgward began promoting automobiles in China and Europe after Foton, the advertising vehicle subsidiary of the Chinese organization BAIC, acquired the rights to the logo in 2014.
Foton hoped Borgward’s call would get him to raise a successful car business to his truck sales. German calls have a smart reputation in China and Foton sought out Borgward to compete with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
When Foton began building Borgward cars in a renovated factory on the outskirts of Beijing in 2015, annual sales of 800,000 cars were reported until 2020. Three new models would be introduced each year.
Borgward has begun promoting the BX7, which is approximately the length of an Audi Q5, in Europe in 2018 and has announced plans to open a factory in Bremen, Germany, in 2019 to manufacture 10,000 cars a year. However, the option for the planned site was never taken.
Like many other start-up manufacturers, Borgward was temporarily found in the hard box of reality.
The Chinese market is having more difficulties in the face of the expansion of the festival of similarly subsidized start-ups through local governments that provide dozens of other SUVs. Borgward’s models were expensive by comparison.
According to the China Manufacturers Association, CAAM, the logo sold more than 30,000 BX 7 games in 2017, its first full year of sales. But despite the upcoming release of the smaller BX 5, sales figures declined thereafter.
Slow elimination
Since first-hand information about the company cannot be obtained in Germany or China, only pieces of the decay puzzle can be collected to shape a global image.
For example, Borgward’s former world headquarters in Stuttgart, near the main station, no longer have letters indicating the company’s existence. Anyone who tries to succeed on the phone line ends up in the endless loop of an answering machine.
The center of the close by logo, in a prime location in the city where Borgward celebrated the start of its sales in Germany, has been deserted for a long time. At the opening of the centre, Borgward executives spoke about 30 such logo centers in Europe.
Borgward’s German homepage is still active and the models are presented in an effective promotional way. But the site hasn’t been maintained for a long time. Accessed in the press releases segment on December 14, 2018.
Borgward has promoted the BX7 in Europe in 2018.
Hopes of awakening
Borgward made automotive history with cars like the Isabella before the company fell into insolvency in the early 1960s.
Christian Borgward, grandson of the company’s founder, Carl F.W. Borgward, announced the rebirth of the logo at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. He said Borgward’s rebirth was a dream of years of formation come true. “
But amid the developmental losses, Foton sold two-thirds of its stock in Borgward to Chinese short-term transportation and leasing supplier Ucar in early 2019.
The use of Borgward cars for the Ucar facility first stabilized sales figures. But from the beginning, there was plenty of doubt about the new business model.
“I don’t understand at all why a supplier like Ucar has to make the cars by itself,” Jomobilwoche Jochen Siebert of JSC Automotive, a consulting firm specializing in China, told Automobilwoche Jochen Siebert of JSC Automotive, a consulting firm specializing in China, in the case of the acquisition.
He also criticized the concept of Uautomobile boss Lu Zhengyao selling cars in small outlets than at large car dealerships: “Especially with an unknown brand, it is vital to be able to look at and check models.
Following the acquisition of Ucar, Bruno Lambert, former president of Magna Steyr Asia, president of Borgward. Several automobilwoche interview requests were unsuccessful.
To rise to the uncertainty, Ucar became involved in an accounting scandal involving Charles Zhengyao Lu, chairman of its largest shareholder, Luckin Coffee, a Starbucks rival.
Dealer confidence
At Borgward’s European distributor, Autodis Esch/Merschin in Luxembourg, the overall is still in order. Autodis Esch / Mersch distributes the BX7 and smaller BX5 in European markets. Many consumers who opt for Volkswagen, Hyundai or Nissan SUVs cross the German border to make a stopover at their Luxembourg dealership.
“We are very close to the company,” distributor Andre Lacerda told Automobilwoche.
Autodis Esch / Mersch said it has sold more than a hundred Borgward SUVs since the summer of 2018. Used models are also working well. The BX7 can be ordered for 44,200 euros and the BX5 for 36,200 euros, adding a four-year guarantee and a service. Spare parts of Autodis materials for workshops in Europe.
What at first glance seems like a little good luck story is probably just the last breath of the moment the brand dies.
Borgward is doubtful that he can be saved. The coronavirus pandemic recently killed many small Chinese brands that had begun with high hopes.
Even the stars that were once brilliant like Byton and Nio are now for their survival.
However, Lacerda de Autodis said there is no sign that Borgward is ending sales in Europe.
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