BMW named veteran executive Jochen Goller as its new head of China operations.
Goller, 51, succeeds Olaf Kastner who will remain as an advisor to the automaker on China issues, BMW said in a statement.
Goller joined BMW Group in 1999 and was the company's head of marketing in China from 2004 to 2009. Following this, he took charge of the Mini brand's operations, firstly in the UK and then globally.
In 2015, Goller returned to China to head of sales and marketing at BMW's joint venture with Brilliance Automotive.
After taking up his new role on March 1, Goller will take charge of group operations in Greater China, including coordination with the Brilliance joint venture.
Kastner, 62, has successfully overseen BMW's growth in China over the last eight years to such a point that the core brand is tipped to become the country's best-selling luxury marque in 2017.
Through November, BMW volume was up 15 percent to 542,362, while Mercedes increased its sales 27 percent to 539,728 units. Registrations of third-placed Audi fell 2.1 percent to 528,706. All three brands are expected to release sales figures for 2017 in the next few days.
This year, BMW plans to launch a total of 16 new products in China, the company said.
