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Borgward, a defunct German firm resurrected by the Chinese language in 2014, has filed for chapter for the second time. The agency hoped to merge into the mainstream with a line of crossovers, and it deliberate to open a manufacturing unit in Europe, however its gross sales plummeted lately.
Business commerce journal Automotive Information Europe wrote that the First Intermediate Folks’s Courtroom of Beijing declared Borgward bankrupt in November 2022. The publication provides that Borgward requested the courtroom for permission to liquidate its property, however particulars concerning the chapter proceedings have not been launched. Beiqi Foton Motor, a truck maker that is a part of the state-owned BAIC Group, purchased Borgward in 2014.
Borgward introduced its return in February 2015, displayed a traditional Isabella coupe a month later on the Geneva Motor Present, and offered its first modern-day mannequin at that yr’s Frankfurt auto present. Referred to as BX7 (pictured), the crossover landed with a generic-looking design and a trunk filled with guarantees, together with a pledge to make a comeback in Europe by late 2017. Whereas a handful of automobiles seemingly made their option to Germany, the model centered largely on the Chinese language market and expanded its vary with crossovers referred to as BX3, BX5, and BX6, respectively.
Securing a foothold in a market as large and as crowded as China’s is simpler mentioned than achieved. Borgward’s annual deliveries peaked at roughly 55,000 models in 2019, in accordance with Automotive Information Europe, however fell to merely 3,600 in 2021. European gross sales had been little greater than a rounding error. The report notes Borgward posted losses totaling greater than 4 billion yuan (over $564 million) from 2016 to 2018.
It is the tip of the road for Borgward, except buyers unexpectedly put it aside. Whereas the corporate’s future plans had been obscure, it traveled to the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Present to current an idea referred to as Isabella that previewed a design language which may have permeated the vary.
That is Borgward’s second journey to the pantheon of automotive historical past. The corporate as soon as loved relative recognition in Germany, and it briefly offered automobiles in the USA, however it skilled monetary issues within the Fifties and filed for chapter in 1961. Mercedes-Benz ended up with the corporate’s Bremen, Germany, plant after a sequence of take-overs and at present builds the C-Class and the GLC there.
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