BMW has wrapped up efforts to put its vehicles on the government procurement list in China, a move that will enable it to catch up with Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
"We has been in discussion with Chinese regulators to be part of the government sourcing of vehicles," an official from BMW China said.
"Although the sales volume may not be significant, the segment plays an important role in the overall market and will contribute to our sales spurt," he added.
Last year, the car maker introduced the longer wheel-based BMW 5 Series to help meet the demand for interior space, a priority for business use.
BMW has been competing with Mercedes-Benz and Audi to seek a bigger market share in the government's vehicle shopping list, which has grown rapidly over the past few years.
Governments at all levels spent 70 billion yuan (US$9.86 billion) on vehicles in 2006, mainly in the mid-to-high class range, accounting for a quarter of the total 300-billion-yuan government procurement, according to a forum on government procurement. Vehicle purchase is rising at around 10 billion yuan a year.
Audi is the biggest supplier in the luxury car segment with its A6L sedans.
Audi's models were also sought by entrepreneurs for business use, helping it to become the biggest luxury car maker in China with sales exceeding 100,000 last year.
Sales of BMWs rose 36 percent to 61,098 units while about 30,600 Mercedes-Benz models were sold during the same period.
Last year, the complete line-up of Mercedes-Benz's Chinese-made models, including E-class and C-class luxury sedans, won approval to go on the government purchasing list.
With the opening market for government procurement, Audi has introduced more sporty models including the Audi A8, Audi A4, Audi TT sports car and the Audi Q7 SUV to win more individual auto buyers in China's rapidly expanding market.
"We are not afraid of the challenge, because we have more experience and the expanded product line-up will drive our sales in the total," Zhang Qiang, of Audi in China, said.
Private buyers account for nearly 80 percent of its total sales, said Zhang.