China could overtake Germany and Italy to become the biggest market for Daimler AG's mini car brand Smart in a few years, Smart chief executive Annette Winkler said on Saturday.
China’s premium car market, currently dominated by German brands Audi , BMW and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, have shown signs of slowing, but sales of compact models in this segment are still growing fast.
Smart, which competes with BMW's Mini, sold about 17,500 cars in China last year, and sales will hit a record this year with slight growth, Smart's China head Daniel Lescow said in the same interview, attributing the slowdown partly to model changes.
He expects sales will pick up after next year's launch of the new Smart two-seater and Smart four-seater in China, the world's biggest auto market.
