FRANKFURT - BMW's sales in China jumped 72 percent in the first quarter as a growing army of super-rich in the country fuels demand for luxuries such as Gucci handbags and Rolls-Royce cars, according to a Reuters report.

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China now accounts for about 15 percent of the group's car sales, up from about 12 percent a year ago, and is hot on the heels of the United States and Germany, BMW's two biggest markets.

But China's car market -- the world's biggest ahead of the United States -- is expected to cool this year amid rising fuel prices and tighter rules on registration after surging by a third to a record high in 2010.