BMW Group achieved record sales for the first six months of the year, with a total of 900,539 vehicles delivered worldwide, an increase of 8.1% over the same period last year (prev. yr. 833,391). The company also achieved its second highest sales volume ever in a single month, with 172,516 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles delivered worldwide in June (prev. yr. 165,868/ +4.0%).
Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management, Sales and Marketing BMW, said in Munich on Friday: “We are very pleased with the positive result for the first half year. The BMW Group achieved record sales again in June and for the first six months of the year and we have an overall record for 2012 well in our sight. There will be additional new models arriving in the coming months, which are expected to bring further momentum in the second half of the year. As the world’s highest-selling premium car company, it is important to us to continue to maintain a good balance between Europe, Asia and the Americas and to continue making gains on all continents, in large and small markets.”
The BMW Group made gains on all continents in the month under review. In Europe, sales increased by 1.5% to 92,686 vehicles (prev. yr. 91,356). Year-to-date, BMW Group sales remain at last year’s level with 437,066 vehicles delivered to customers in Europe (prev. yr. 437,399/ -0.1%). The BMW 3 Series Touring, which accounts for two thirds of BMW 3 Series registrations in the German home market, is expected to bring further momentum to European markets with its launch in September.
In Asia, the BMW Group delivered 237,875 vehicles in the first six months of 2012 and reported a growth of 25.7% compared to the same period in 2011 (prev. yr. 189,254). In the month under review, 38,352 vehicles were delivered (prev. yr. 34,836 / +10.1%). Several Asian markets saw strong double digit growth in the first half year including smaller markets such as Indonesia (1,061/ +48.0%), and larger markets such as Japan (27,698/ +27.4%) and China. Mainland China accounted for 23,930 deliveries in June, an increase of 13.1% over the same month last year (prev. yr. 21,158). Due to a model changeover, some models were not available in the month under review. Year-to-date, 158,956 BMW and MINI vehicles have been sold in Mainland China (prev. yr. 121,614) which reflects an increase of 30.7%. The uptake of the new BMW 3 Series Long Wheelbase, available as of mid-July, is expected to provide for further robust growth in China in the second half of the year.
America saw a slight increase in growth with 35,116 vehicles delivered in June (prev. yr. 34,414 / +2.0%). In the first six months, 194,620 vehicles have been delivered to customers in America, which reflects an increase of +8.8% on the previous year (178,901).
In the U.S., 27,720 vehicles were delivered last month, an increase of +3.2% on the same month last year (prev. yr. 26,865). Year-to-date, the BMW Group is up 10.5% on sales of 158,563 in the first six months of 2012 compared to 143,521 in the same period in 2011. The arrival of the new BMW 3 Series with xDrive, as well as the BMW X1 in September is expected to give BMW sales in the US a strong boost in the second half of the year.
