BMW Group sales climb 7.5% in Jan-Sept

The BMW Group has continued to grow its sales, achieving its best ever September result. Deliveries of the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles totalled 215,413 for the month, an increase of 7.8% compared year-on-year. The recent figures have also been the company’s best ever first three quarters with year-to-date sales up 7.5% (1,644,810).

“Despite ongoing headwinds in certain markets, BMW Group sales continue to grow steadily,” said Ian Robertson, member of the board of management of BMW AG, sales and marketing BMW. “We are seeing strong momentum in many European markets, while sales in much of Asia and the NAFTA region are also moving positively,” he continued.

Global sales of BMW brand vehicles climbed 7.7% in September, with a total of 180,475 vehicles delivered to customers in the month. Deliveries in the first three quarters of the year rose 5.8% compared to the same period last year, with a total of 1,395,780 vehicles sold.

The BMW 2 Series sales continued to grow steadily with the Active Tourer achieving monthly sales of 8,670 a year after it was launched. Sales of the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé almost doubled compared to September last year, with a total of 6,080 units delivered to customers (+90.8%). Global deliveries of the BMW 5 Series in September rose 21% to 33,406. September was also a strong month for BMW i vehicles with 3,361 BMW i3s (+86.9%) delivered to customers worldwide. Since the beginning of the year, 20,576 customers have taken delivery of a BMW i3 or i8, nearly twice as many as over the same period last year (+95.1%).

Further, the Mini brand saw 34,600 units delivered to customers in September, an increase of 8.6% on the same month last year. The first nine months of the year have seen sales increase by 18.7% with a total of 246,426 Minis delivered worldwide. Sales of the Mini 3-door in the first nine months of the year have increased 13.8% compared to the same period last year, with a total of 94,830 delivered to customers. Around the world, a total of 67,961 Mini 5-doors have been sold in the year-to-date.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars achieved its second-best ever sales performance for the first nine months of the year, despite significant headwinds in the luxury sector in Mainland China. The Goodwood-based brand delivered 2,604 units to customers in the nine-month period from January to September (-8.9%).

Meanwhile, sales in Europe continued to provide strong momentum in the first three quarters of 2015, with BMW and Mini combined sales up 10.3% on the same period last year (731,065). Great Britain saw 171,233 vehicles delivered to customers so far this year, an increase of 13.8%, while customer deliveries in France, went up 19.6% in the first three quarters (56,208). Southern European markets also continued to recover well with sales in Spain up 18.0% (33,501) and deliveries in Portugal up 25.7% (10,760).

Further, sales volume in the Americas climbed steadily; with a total of 360,700 BMW and Mini vehicles delivered to customers in the region so far this year, an increase of 7.0%. In the USA, 294,930 vehicles were delivered in the first three quarters of 2015, up 6.9%. Customer deliveries in Canada over the same period rose 11.8% (31,297) while sales in Mexico climbed 18.7% (12,598).

Deliveries of BMW and Mini vehicles in Asia in the year-to-date increased by 4.3% compared with the same period last year, totalling 502,046. In Mainland China, a total of 342,683 BMW and MINI vehicles were delivered to customers, up 2.0% compared with the same period last year.

As reported by Autocar Professional earlier, sales of BMW Motorrad motorcycles and maxi-scooters continued to show excellent momentum as 112,411 customers took deliveries in the first three quarters of the year, up 12.2% on the same period last year.