BMW had a decent start to the year in the United States, where shipments in the first quarter jumped by 3.7% to 87,615 units. But how did your favorite model fare between January and March? As with everything in life, there are winners and losers. The XM continued to fall, with demand dropping by 25.1% to just 405 cars. It was a particularly bad quarter for the 8 Series as well, as shipments fell 32.4% to 990 units.
We are happy to report that people bought more Z4 roadsters than they did in the first three months of 2024. The convertible sports car was up a solid 29% to 520 cars. That’s not much, but still more than the XM. We’re pleasantly surprised to see the iX climbed 23.1% right before the electric SUV’s Life Cycle Impulse. Shipments of the LCI model are scheduled to start this quarter.
As shocking as the X2’s rise is, the 133.4% boost doesn’t tell the whole truth. Deliveries of the second-generation model didn’t start in the US until March 2024. Consequently, BMW is comparing a single month to three months. Its bigger brother, the X4, fell 40% ahead of its imminent retirement. BMW has already announced there won’t be a direct replacement. Why? It believes that the much larger second-gen X2 will indirectly take its place in the lineup.
With the Trump administration’s tariffs coming into effect this week, we’re wondering how the 2 Series will perform in the remaining three quarters of the year. As a refresher, the 2er and M2 are built at the San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico. The X1, X2, and iX, along with the non-SUV models, are also assembled outside of the United States.
Even though they’ve been gone for many years, the i3 and i8 still appear in the sales charts, albeit with 0 units. The same goes for the 6 Series Gran Turismo, although the misunderstood large luxury hatchback continued outside of the US for many years.
