The FINANCIAL — Following its most successful sales year ever, the BMW Group achieved a record numbers of customer deliveries in the first month of the new year. A total of 152,879 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were handed over to customers around the world in January 2016, an increase of 7.5% on the same period last year.
“We are pleased to see the sustainable levels of growth we achieved in 2015 continuing into this year,” said Dr Ian Robertson, member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for global sales and marketing BMW. “Despite many markets showing continuing volatility, we remain optimistic that this positive trend will continue through 2016, our company’s centenary year,” he added.
BMW sales increased by 7.5%, with a total of 133,883 units delivered around the world in January. A variety of models throughout the range achieved significant sales growth. The BMW 1 Series increased sales by 22.9% (12,324) while the new BMW X1 grew sales of that model by 60.4% compared with the same month last year (14,308). Combined sales of the BMW 2 Series Active and Gran Tourers in January reached 8,249 units. The BMW X family remains increasingly popular in all vehicle classes: sales of the BMW X3 increased by 16.6% (10,777) while sales of the BMW X6 increased 24.2% (3,587). The brand’s flagship, the new BMW 7 Series, achieved a 26.3% increase on sales compared with the same month last year – a total of 3,392 were delivered to customers around the world. Globally, 1,255 BMW i vehicles were delivered to customers, according to BMW.
Following record sales in 2015, MINI achieved its best-ever January with a total of 18,867 vehicles delivered to customers worldwide (+8.6%). The MINI 5 door was one of the brand’s main growth drivers, with sales of that model increasing 49.2% (5,783). The new MINI Clubman’s strong start continued into January with a total of 2,300 units delivered worldwide.
The positive sales trend in Europe continued into January with deliveries of BMW and MINI vehicles increasing by 10.9% compared with the same month last year (61,737). Several markets achieved double-digit growth including Italy (+16.2% / 5,907), France (+18.8% / 5,273) and Spain (+25.5% / 4,417). The region’s two biggest markets for the BMW Group, Germany and the UK, also grew sales in January: 20,009 new BMW Group vehicles were registered in Germany (+2.4%) while UK sales grew by 2.3% (9,453).
The sales result in the Americas was affected by the storms which disrupted large parts of the USA in January. A total of 26,667 BMW and MINIs were delivered in the region in the first year of the month (-2.9%). Although sales in the USA were 4.0% down on the same month last year, deliveries in Canada rose 9.8% (2,280) and sales in Mexico were up 13.0% (1,430).
Deliveries of BMW and MINI vehicles in Asia increased by 9.8% (59,522) compared with January last year. In Mainland China, deliveries rose 8.4% (43,441), sales in South Korea increased 13.4% (4,587) and deliveries in Japan climbed 19.3% (3,833).
The year also began well for BMW Motorrad, which achieved a sales increase of 19.6% compared with January last year. A total of 7,488 BMW motorcycles and maxi-scooters were delivered to customers around the world in the month, making it the division’s best January ever.
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