The head of BMW AG's new China plant, the first pure-play luxury car maker in the country, admits he's perplexed by local attitudes.
Almost 90 percent of buyers for its China-made 3 and 5 Series models want white or silver. In Europe and North America, darker colours hold greater sway.
"As a European, I don't have an explanation for that," laughed BMW-Brilliance President Heinz-Juergen Preissler as he walked through a production line in the chilly north-eastern city of Shenyang, a few hours drive from the North Korean border.
Incomprehensible or not, BMW is only too happy to deliver.
Demand is exploding, and there is a waiting list several weeks long of car-crazy Chinese, despite prices from $48,000 to $84,000. Those prices put a BMW beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest.
Executives admit it is now more costly to make BMWs in China than elsewhere. But it hopes to bring expenses down as its seven-month-old factory expands and gains scale, begins making engines, and rides growing domestic demand.
"We are successful all over the world, so why should China be an exception?" asked Preissler, as half-built cars whizzed by on robotic arms and chestnut-coloured leather seats awaited fitting.
BMW's popularity in China is driven by its brand power and the fact that it faces no direct, locally made luxury competitor.
Its closest rivals are Volkswagen AG's China-made Audis, although BMW's main German foe, Daimler Chrysler AG, plans to produce Mercedes-Benz cars in China.
In the first four months of the year, the joint venture between BMW and top mainland minibus maker Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd moved 3,877 cars.
Though Merrill Lynch analyst Grace Mak said early sales were slower than some had hoped, the BMW plant is still in the ramp-up stages after production started late last year.
But in a sign of the venture's profit power, Mak expects that by 2005, BMWs will account for 40 percent of earnings at Brilliance - which makes the Zhonghua sedan that has proven a poor seller.