BMW Group sells 179,285 vehicles in April, up 1.9% YoY

After a record month in March 2016, when the BMW Group posted its best ever sales in history, the Group managed to sell 179,285 vehicles worldwide in April 2016, up 1.9% year-on-year (YoY).

In the year-to-date figures, a total of 736,931 BMW Group vehicles were sold in the first four months of 2016, 4.9% more than in the same period last year.

Commenting on the sales, Dr Ian Robertson, member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for Sales and Marketing said, “Following on from our best-ever sales month in March, we have once again achieved sustainable and profitable levels of growth across the BMW Group product line-up. Despite headwinds in some markets, the overall global picture remains positive for the year.

The BMW brand sales achieved a new April sales high with a total of 150,542 vehicles sold, an increase of 1.1% compared with the sales of the same month last year. The brand’s year-to-date figures stand at 629,325 units, up 4.8% YoY. Whilst many vehicles within the product line-up have achieved increased sales this year, the BMW X models are the biggest growth drivers. Sales of the new BMW X1 have increased by 60.6% compared with the first four months of 2015, with a total of 63,243 units sold. Double-digit growth was also achieved by the BMW X3: worldwide sales have climbed 18.4% to total 49,325. Other BMW models which achieved double-digit sales growth include the BMW 2 Series, with sales up 54.8% (59,407) and the BMW 7 Series, which grew sales by 15.8% in the first four months of the year (14,609).

April saw growing demand for the BMW Group’s increasing number of innovative vehicles with electric drive – a total of 4,504 pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold around the world in the month. The top three markets for these vehicles were the USA, Scandinavia and the UK. Sales of the all-electric BMW i3 increased 50.7% compared with the same month last year (1,854), with overall sales for BMW i up 29.4% on the month (2,181). Six months after the market launch of the BMW X5 xDrive 40e plug-in hybrid, nearly 10% of all BMW X5s sold in April were the electrified version, with a total of 1,196 units sold.

Meanwhile, sales of Mini vehicles in April totalled 28,441 worldwide, an increase of 6.3% YoY and a new record for the month. The year-to-date sales of the brand rose 5.6% to 106,753. The two newest members of the Mini were the chief drivers of sales as the Mini Convertible numbers rose 12% to total 5,849 worldwide in the first four months of the year while the Mini Clubman sold 16,409 in the same period.

BMW market sales

Europe continues to be a strong growth driver for BMW and Mini with sales in the first four months of 2016 totalling 341,195 units, an increase of 9.9% compared with the same period last year. Almost all markets in the region have achieved sales growth in the year-to-date, with double-digit increases recorded in several markets including France (27,784 / +12.2%), Spain (17,884 / +20.6%) and Scandinavia (17,491 / +14.4%).

The year-to-date deliveries of BMW and Mini vehicles in Asia increased by 6.2% compared with the same period last year, with a total of 234,463 units sold. In Mainland China, sales rose 6% (162,221), sales in South Korea climbed 15.6% (19,550) while Japan posted a 6.7% increase (22,936).

In the Americas, the year-to-date sales of BMW and Mini vehicles went down 8.1%, with a total of 138,033 units sold. The total sales of 111,199 in the USA were 10.1% down on the same period last year, as supply to the market is currently being rebalanced in order to take account of increasing demand for SAV models. Sales in Canada rose 9.3% (13,197) and sales in Mexico in the year-to-date rose 7.1% (9,766).

BMW Motorrad continued its run of record sales in April with deliveries up 1.4% (16,793). Globally, a total of 50,581 BMW motorcycles and maxi-scooters were sold in 2016 (+5.5%).