BMW Group sales achieved a new all-time high for April, with sales in the month totalling 192,494, a 7.4% increase year-on-year. The first four months of the year also set a new record, with sales of the BMW Group’s three premium brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, increasing by 5.8% to 779,736.
“Thanks to the strength of our model line-up, the BMW Group continues to achieve sustainable, profitable sales growth month after month,” commented Dr Ian Robertson, Member of the BMW AG Board of Management with responsibility for Sales and Brand BMW. “Customer demand is high across the range with a number of stand-out models, including the X1, the 5 Series and the 7 Series. As availability of the new BMW 5 Series ramps up, demand for this new generation is twice as high as for the previous model at this point in the market launch,” he continued. “With demand for our electrified vehicles up over 80%, I’m confident that we’ll achieve our target of delivering 100,000 electrified cars on the road this year, underlining our industry-leading position in the field,” he added.
BMW brand sales in the year-to-date increased 6.2% compared with the same period last year, with a record total of 668,095 vehicles delivered to customers around the world. The brand achieved its best-ever April with global sales totalling 164,641 units, an increase of 9.4% on the same month last year. Many models throughout the range contributed to this growth: April deliveries of the BMW X1 increased 80.9% (22,147), sales of the BMW X3 were up 17.3% (12,440) while deliveries of the flagship BMW 7 Series grew 33.7% (5,376). The BMW 5 Series, of which the new generation sedan had its first full month on sale in most markets, was delivered to 27,572 customers worldwide.
Customer demand for the BMW Group’s innovative BMW i and BMW iPerformance models increased by 43.4% in April (6,466 vehicles) and is up 82.7% in the year-to-date (25,883 vehicles). With eight models on the market, the BMW Group offers customers the broadest electrified range of any premium manufacturer.
Year-to-date sales of MINI brand vehicles are up 3.6% compared with the same period last year with a total of 110,643 delivered to customers around the world in the first four months of the year. The brand’s main growth drivers so far this year are the MINI Cabrio (10,871 / +86.2%) and the MINI Clubman (19,203 / +16.9%). April sales at MINI were down 3.0% (27,588) on last year’s extremely high level.
BMW Motorrad continues to grow steadily following its record first quarter. April saw a total of 17,915 motorcycles and maxi-scooters delivered around the world, an increase of 6.7% compared with the same month last year. In the year-to-date, sales at BMW Motorrad are up 5.9% (53,551). Significant models in the BMW Motorrad model line-up are the highly emotive R nineT family, which has been delivered to more than 3,300 customers this year alone, while the G 310 R is the first BMW Motorrad below 500 ccm, opening up a new vehicle class for the brand.
BMW & MINI sales in the regions/markets at a glance
Sales growth in the year-to-date has been driven mainly by increased demand in Europe and Asia – this trend was also reflected in April, despite headwinds in some European markets. April saw an unusually sharp increase in sales in Mainland China. This is largely due to full availability of the BMW X1, which was in run-out in April 2016, and the introduction of the new BMW 1 Series sedan, a car made exclusively for the Chinese market.
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