Borgward Model Dies Once more, Declared Bankrupt

Out of nowhere, Borgward returned to the automotive scene within the second half of 2015 after being dormant for greater than half a century. Nonetheless, its revival was not a direct successor to the previous German firm. Chinese language automaker Beiqi Foton Motor, a subsidiary of BAIC Group, purchased the rights to the moniker and emblem in 2014 to create a brand new automaker. There have been plans for a manufacturing unit in Bremen, however these by no means materialized.

Borgward bought the BX3, BX5, BX6, and BX7 gasoline-fueled crossovers in China the place an electrical model of the BX7 was additionally supplied. Gross sales peaked in 2019 when about 55,000 items had been delivered earlier than plummeting to only 3,600 items final 12 months. From 2016 to 2018, the automaker suffered losses amounting to $564 million, and final 12 months alone, it misplaced much more than that. Consequently, the corporate has been declared bankrupt and is now attempting to get courtroom approval to promote its remaining belongings.

Borgward Group AG was technically primarily based in Stuttgart, Germany, however all of the manufacturing was achieved in China. There have been makes an attempt to extend the model’s presence outdoors of the Individuals’s Republic reminiscent of in Europe and nations from the Gulf Cooperation Council, nevertheless it by no means took off. The coronavirus pandemic was too huge of a blow for such a fragile, new child automaker, which wasn’t capable of get well.

It ought to be famous that in 2019, dad or mum firm Beiqi Foton Motor bought a 67-percent stake in Borgward to Ucar, a Chinese language ride-hailing and automobile rental firm. Gross sales did decide up for a short time, however not sufficient to maintain the troubled crossover maker afloat when the COVID-19 pandemic began to wreak havoc within the automotive trade.

When Borgward was introduced again from the useless, it had deliberate to promote 800,000 items yearly by 2020, however that clearly did not occur. Luxembourg represented its sole presence in Europe, hardly sufficient for a viable enterprise in such a aggressive trade with a plethora of respected names going up in opposition to a comparatively unknown firm.