Shanghai (ZXZC)- BMW Group's China branch announced on June 24 that Steven Shao has been appointed as President of BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd., effective July 4, 2020. He will succeed Michael Liu, who has decided to resign from his current position due to personal reasons.

(Steven Shao, photo source: BMW China)

According to BMW's announcement, Mr. Steven Shao joined BMW Group in 2005 and over the past 15 years has accumulated ample knowledge and rich expertise across multiple business areas including marketing, brand management, regional sale as well as sales management. He is currently serves as Vice President Sales of BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd.

“During the past several years, we have kept training management talents for the localization business in China. We are confident that Mr. Shao's comprehensive competency combined with senior leadership experiences will contribute to the continuous success for BMW in our largest market worldwide,” said Jochen Goller, President and CEO of BMW Group Region China.

Dr. Michael Liu started his working career at BMW Group in 2008. He had assumed the role of Vice President of BMW China's South Region and Sales Vice President of BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. In 2016, he was promoted to President of BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd., the first Chinese who held that position.

Under Mr. Liu's leadership, BMW has intensified its transformation in electrification and speeded up the roll-out of new products in China, achieving a stable sales growth in the world's largest auto market.

Last year, the BMW Group delivered a total of 723,680 BMW and MINI vehicles to customers in China, a 13.1% increase compared with the previous year, the automaker announced at a conference held on January 14. This was the company's best-ever sales result in the country since entering the market in 1994. As an e-mobility pioneer, it had already delivered the 50,000th electrified vehicles there as of December 2019.