BMW Group sales up 5.1% to 208,447 units in May

As announced the German luxury vehicle manufacturer continued the positive sales trend of the past months, with sales in May totalling 208,447 vehicles, a 5.1% increase year-on-year. With its three premium brands, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group sold 988,185 vehicles in the first five months of the year, up 5.7%.

According to Dr Ian Robertson, BMW AG Management Board Member responsible for Sales and Brand BMW. “In May, we once again achieved sustainable, profitable growth across our three premium automotive brands, as well as at BMW Motorrad,” he continued. “Growth at BMW has been in part driven by our expanding electrified range – sales of these vehicles have risen over 80% in the first five months. With eight models, the BMW Group offers its customers the broadest range of electrified premium vehicles available on the market today.” 

BMW brand sales in the first five months increased by 6.0% compared with the same period last year, to 845,147 units. This growth is particularly attributable to the good sales figures of the BMW X family, with the BMW X1 as the most popular: By the end of May, 113,367 BMW X1 were delivered. This reflects a growth of 47.0% compared to the same period last year. Sales of the BMW X3 increased by 8.9% (67,490), while those of the BMW X5 were up 11.1% (73,418). The flagship BMW 7 Series continues to be very popular among customers worldwide: 26,292 vehicles were delivered in the first five months, 37.3% more than the prior year. 

Customer demand for automobiles with alternative drive trains continues to evolve in an extremely dynamic way: Sales of BMW i and BMW iPerformance models increased by 73.4% in May (7,336 vehicles). Year-to-date deliveries of electrified models reached 33,221, up 80.6%. Among other factors, this strong growth is driven by the BMW 530e iPerformance, which has been available since March. Beginning in late June, the MINI Cooper SE Countryman ALL4 plug-in hybrid will expand the product line-up of electrified vehicles. 

Sales of the MINI brand continue to show stable growth: 141,767 vehicles were delivered in the first five months of the year, an increase of 3.8%. The main growth drivers here remain the MINI Cabrio with 14,373 units sold (up 52.3%) and the MINI Clubman with 23,899 vehicles sold (+13.3%) in the first five months of the year. The MINI Countryman, which had its market launch in March, also contributed to the positive trend with 7,035 vehicles sold in May (up 26.4%). 

After an excellent start to the year, BMW Motorrad has grown continuously and steadily. In May, 17,578 motorcycles and maxi-scooters were delivered to customers, an increase of 15.8% compared with the same month last year. In the first five months of the year, sales at BMW Motorrad were up by 8.2% (71,129). Within the BMW Motorrad model line-up, the highly emotive R nineT family has continued to contribute decisively to this growth, alongside high demand for the GS models.

BMW & MINI sales in the regions /markets at a glance

Europe is the largest sales market for BMW and MINI, with 446,050 deliveries in the first five months of the year (up 3.1%).

The positive trend in BMW Group worldwide sales since the start of the year is also due to the growing market in Asia. Unusually strong sales growth, with a year-to-date increase of 19.9%, was seen in China (242,683). In May, deliveries there increased by 27.1% (50,986 units). This is largely due to full availability of the BMW X1 and the popularity of the new BMW 1 Series sedan, which is produced exclusively for the Chinese market.

Sales in the Americas were significantly influenced by the declining market in the United States. By the end of May, 174,570 vehicles were delivered to customers (down by 3.1%). The sales figures in Mexico and Latin America developed very positively, with growth of 17.3% to 14,558 vehicles. 

BMW Group sales in/ytd May 2017 at a glance