Just as BMW officials announced a while back, all the turmoil going on around the world is affecting all industries, including the automotive sector. BMW posted its three-quarter report for 2018 today and, even though the Group as a whole posted an increase in sales, it’s a small bump and not on all fronts. Overall, BMW sales went up by 1.3 percent worldwide adding up to a total of 1,834,810 units.
The good news is that electrified models continue to grow in the eyes of the customers, posting solid growth on all markets. In September deliveries of BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric vehicles totaled 14,559 units worldwide, an increase of 35.0% on the same month last year and the highest monthly total ever for BMW Group electrified. Sales in the year to date total 97,543, an increase of a whopping 42%.
“In the face of a combination of exceptional challenges, we have achieved a steady sales result,” said Pieter Nota, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Sales and Brand BMW. “The third quarter in Europe was significantly affected by market distortions caused by the introduction of the new WLTP testing procedure at the beginning of September. As we planned well ahead for the WLTP changeover, virtually all our current models are WLTP type-approved and available for delivery,” Nota continued.
Indeed, sales of BMW vehicles in Europe took a bit of a hit in September, the sales figures showing a decrease of 0.8 percent, adding up to 237,781 units. Nevertheless, BMW claims things will turn around and that was only the exception as the new regulations were put in place. BMW brand sales went up by 0.8 percent last month (+1.9 percent year-to-date), MINI sales went down by 9.2 percent over the same time period (down 2 percent year-to-date) while Rolls-Royce sales went up by 13.5 percent on year-to-date basis.
