Summer isn’t exactly the best month for car sales. People are more interested in traveling and creating great memories with their loved ones instead of spending their money on a new car. Even so, BMW apparently managed to post its best-yet August sales figures this past month, breaking its own record set back in 2016. With deliveries in the month totaling 169,913 worldwide, the Germans posted a 2.7% increase year-on-year.
“When we announced our second quarter results in early August, we reported yet another quarter within our profit guidance and profitability remains our clear focus,” said Dr Ian Robertson, Management Board Member for Sales and Brand BMW. “While we continue to see headwinds in several key markets and have the model changeover of the BMW X3 and the BMW 5 Series in China, we have nonetheless achieved a new record level of sales for August. Our nine electrified vehicles continue to enjoy increasing success, with the two newest additions – the BMW 5 Series and the MINI Countryman plug-in hybrid variants – achieving strong sales,” he continued.
As far as the BMW brand vehicles go, sales increased by 3.1 percent compared to the same month, last year, with a total of 146,926 vehicles delivered to customers. The brand’s sales for the first eight months of the year were also higher than ever before, with 1,338,475 vehicles sold, up 4.4% on the same period last year. Despite the current model changeover of the BMW X3, the BMW X family continues to be a major growth driver with overall BMW X sales up 13.9% (457,442). The BMW 1 Series (121,415 / +10.1%) and BMW 7 Series (41,536 / +16.9%) also achieved significant growth. Meanwhile in August, the new BMW 5 Series achieved sales growth of 50.7% (16,762) in markets excluding China, where the BMW 5 Series is currently in model changeover.
Sales of electrified vehicles continue to grow strongly. A total of 57,895 BMW i, BMW iPerformance and electrified MINI vehicles have been delivered to customers around the world since the start of the year, an increase of 67.0%. With a total of nine electrified automobiles on sale today, ranging from the BMW i3 through the MINI Countryman to the BMW 7 Series, the BMW Group has an 11% share of the global electrified market, far ahead of any other traditional car maker. In Europe, the BMW Group has a 21% market share.
The two newest additions to the electrified fleet are already achieving significant sales: the new BMW 530e was delivered to more than 1,000 customers in markets excluding China in August, meaning that over 6% of BMW 5 Series sold in those markets in the month were plug-in hybrids. It’s a similar story with the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4: with a total of nearly 500 sold in the month, nearly 9% of MINI Countryman models delivered to customers around the world were a plug-in hybrid.
