[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

BMW Group: Positive sales trend continued in May

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208,447 vehicles delivered worldwide, up 5.1%
BMW sales grow by 5.3% to 177,050 vehicles
MINI sales increase by 4.2% to 31,124 vehicles
BMW Group year-to-date sales total 988,185, up 5.7%
Sales of electrified models increase by 80.6% (33,221) YTD

June 14, 2017

Munich. The BMW Group continued the positive sales trend of the past months, with sales in May totalling 208,447 vehicles, a 5.1% increase year-on-year. With its three premium brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group sold 988,185 vehicles in the first five months, up 5.7%.

“Customers around the world are excited by our innovative, new products,” commented Dr Ian Robertson, BMW AG Management Board Member responsible for Sales and Brand BMW. “In May, we once again achieved sustainable, profitable growth across our three premium automotive brands, as well as at BMW Motorrad,” he continued. “Growth at BMW has been in part driven by our expanding electrified range – sales of these vehicles have risen over 80% in the first five months. With eight models, the BMW Group offers its customers the broadest range of electrified premium vehicles available on the market today.”

BMW brand sales in the first five months increased by 6.0% compared with the same period last year, to 845,147 units. This growth is particularly attributable to the good sales figures of the BMW X family, with the BMW X1 as the most popular: By the end of May, 113,367 BMW X1 were delivered. This reflects a growth of 47.0% compared to the same period last year. Sales of the BMW X3 increased by 8.9% (67,490), while those of the BMW X5 were up 11.1% (73,418). The flagship BMW 7 Series continues to be very popular among customers worldwide: 26,292 vehicles were delivered in the first five months, 37.3% more than the prior year.

Customer demand for automobiles with alternative drive trains continues to evolve in an extremely dynamic way: Sales of BMW i and BMW iPerformance models increased by 73.4% in May (7,336 vehicles). Year-to-date deliveries of electrified models reached 33,221, up 80.6%. Among other factors, this strong growth is driven by the BMW 530e iPerformance, which has been available since March. Beginning in late June, the MINI Cooper SE Countryman ALL4 plug-in hybrid will expand the product line-up of electrified vehicles.

Sales of the MINI brand continue to show stable growth: 141,767 vehicles were delivered in the first five months of the year, an increase of 3.8%. The main growth drivers here remain the MINI Cabrio with 14,373 units sold (up 52.3%) and the MINI Clubman with 23,899 vehicles sold (+13.3%) in the first five months of the year. The MINI Countryman, which had its market launch in March, also contributed to the positive trend with 7,035 vehicles sold in May (up 26.4%).

After an excellent start to the year, BMW Motorrad has grown continuously and steadily. In May, 17,578 motorcycles and maxi-scooters were delivered to customers, an increase of 15.8% compared with the same month last year. In the first five months of the year, sales at BMW Motorrad were up by 8.2% (71,129). Within the BMW Motorrad model line-up, the highly emotive R nineT family has continued to contribute decisively to this growth, alongside high demand for the GS models.

BMW & MINI sales in the regions /markets at a glance

Europe is the largest sales market for BMW and MINI, with 446,050 deliveries in the first five months of the year (up 3.1%).

The positive trend in BMW Group worldwide sales since the start of the year is also due to the growing market in Asia. Unusually strong sales growth, with a year-to-date increase of 19.9%, was seen in China (242,683). In May, deliveries there increased by 27.1% (50,986 units). This is largely due to full availability of the BMW X1 and the popularity of the new BMW 1 Series sedan, which is produced exclusively for the Chinese market.

Sales in the Americas were significantly influenced by the declining market in the United States. By the end of May, 174,570 vehicles were delivered to customers (down by 3.1%). The sales figures in Mexico and Latin America developed very positively, with growth of 17.3% to 14,558 vehicles.

[Viffermike]

Up in every single geographic area except the U.S.

How ya like them apples compared with that orang -- I mean, strawberry?

I'll say it once again: think globally. BMW's doing fine, and the U.S. market really doesn't matter all that much anymore.

[ssuene93]

China has become BMW biggest maket outside Germany.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by ssuene93

China has become BMW biggest maket outside Germany.

You mean outside Europe. It's bigger than Germany.

[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Up in every single geographic area except the U.S./Canada.

How ya like them apples compared with that orang -- I mean, strawberry?

I'll say it once again: think globally. BMW's doing fine, and the U.S. market really doesn't matter all that much anymore.

If the US's economy tanks the rest of the world's going to follow so they should be concerned.

[IvanLZ]

Now people should understand why they are releasing the 6GT. China is a big portion of the sales so BMW is catering to them.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by IvanLZ

Now people should understand why they are releasing the 6GT. China is a big portion of the sales so BMW is catering to them.

That would explain it if they were releasing it in China but not outside of China.

[BMWFanatic2008]

Not easy to win every single market. I am sure US sales will bounce back at some point in the future. Also, their best sellers in China are probably low end models which we might not even have here in US eg 316 or something like that. Different product lineups for various markets.

[EggFreak]

non of the new car line up are appealing enough for the price tag, audi-like zero steering feedback with shit engine sound / no sound, available but not in dealer inventory 3 paddle shift car. when a new 6-speed stick only Honda civic si have better driving dynamic then any current new bmw, they are just cars faster then civic. while bmw try to get into every single segment with shitload of new models. they simply don't make anything for enthusiasts feel worth the price tag, especially when other makes come up with new cars very old-bmw-like.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by ORIGIN M.

If the US's economy tanks the rest of the world's going to follow so they should be concerned.

Hell: If the major Asian economies tank the rest of the world will follow. Same goes with the EU (and it can't afford to bail out whole countries like it did several years ago again). So what exactly is your point?

YTD, the U.S. accounts for 17.6 percent of global BMW Group sales. If BMW AG 2017 global sales are up 5.7 percent and 2017 U.S. sales are down 4.8 percent, what does that tell you about the general trend, particularly as it relates to BMW's long-term product goals?

The U.S. is third fiddle behind the EU and China, and the rest of Asia is catching up quick. That's what.

[ssuene93]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

You mean outside Europe. It's bigger than Germany.

From the table in OP, the Europe sales still the largest market for BMW. For individual country, China is the largest.

[ORIGIN M.]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Hell: If the major Asian economies tank the rest of the world will follow. Same goes with the EU (and it can't afford to bail out whole countries like it did several years ago again). So what exactly is your point?

YTD, the U.S. accounts for 17.6 percent of global BMW Group sales. If BMW AG 2017 global sales are up 5.7 percent and 2017 U.S. sales are down 4.8 percent, what does that tell you about the general trend, particularly as it relates to BMW's long-term product goals?

The U.S. is third fiddle behind the EU and China, and the rest of Asia is catching up quick. That's what.

Sales are sales.

If they want to kill MB sliding backwards is never a good thing.

[c63er]

Why are you people so concerned with sales numbers. Higher sales volume generally means lower quality products and more mainstreamed products, none of which is good for us as enthusiast consumers.

Lower volume, high profit and high quality is better for us. Think of ferrari and porsche as examples. Selling a huge volume of cut rate models in China is a very bad thing for us. Sure it's easier money for the company but they have even less of a drive to create unique products let alone products that actually perform o a standard many of us would like.

Which is why so many recent Bmws are all looks and a badge (in some cases a badge from every angle when someone's eye hits the car... sad).

I would look at markets and countries which are more discerning of good products as a barometer of how people are reacting to a good product. The u.s. Market is on the upper end of discerning markets but there are a few others. Bmw on the whole bmw hasn't done as well in these places so they turn their attention to the easy money. I can't necessarily blame them, it's easy and lazy in a relative sense. But for us as fans it's not a good thing. So much of the sales competition with mercedes and audi has resulted in abnormal sales volume from rediculous lease deals. However the product suffers as usual.

The best we can do is continue to keep bmw honest and once the easy money either dries up or moves on to the next it thing, they will be forced to reckon with us once again.

Right now they seem to be at the height of dishonesty and greed at the cost of their brand.

Much of this I believe is the result of the 2008 global depression which put this virus into the minds of the corporate car world that the end is near and they need to extract every penny from this gasoline based system while getting ready for electric.

In Bmws case this means to absolutely whore out anything profitable in the brand. Target #1 would be bmw M. That M logo has seen a dramatic increase in being plastered every where possible. M performance was born. Cars that are unfocused and simply a copy paste of bigger brakes and more engine power now wear the m logo. The finese that was evident underlying many of the older bmw m cars has given way to a hammer of turbo powered torque. Easier and cheaper. Platforms are shared between models and now with Toyota. Models are designed to be as generic as possible to keep sales volume up for the broadest number of people because that is much easier then creating a popular quality product that appeals to discerning customers.

Other areas of positive brand recognition or of any value also get whored out. Latest example is taking a slow selling gt model and renaming it as a 6 series. Using the positive brand recognition built up for the 6 series to try to increase sales of another car which could not achieve recognition on its own. Same strategy was used for bmw performance which was renamed to m performance. Suddenly with that m logo people were interested. Superficiality does reign with a large segment of Bmws current clientele unfortunately.

This is simply the reality, if you care about cars and care about bmw , this bluster is not to our interests. Just keep bmw honest and don't accept their lies. Especially from scott, he is a large reflector on a broken system at bmw which will hopefully improve one day.

[phoenixbmwlife]

I think that in regards to BMW sales in the US. We have had the pleasure of buying BMWs at such big discounts over the years compared to the rest of the world. Even our neighbors to the North in Canada pay more than we do. It's just time now for the US to pay more for their cars. If you look at BMW lease residuals, money factor and discounts they have all worsened and this is probably going to be the norm now. But even at current prices it is still cheaper than most of the world so it can't only be a price factor to the slow down in US sales. It's got to be a combination of other factors also.

Personally as a BMW fan, I am for the first time unsure if I will be purchasing another BMW because the competition has really uped their game. If anything I will move up to Porsche for my next car since IMHO a Porsche ride and handling dynamics is the closest thing to a BMW out there right now.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Up in every single geographic area except the U.S./Canada.

How ya like them apples compared with that orang -- I mean, strawberry?

I'll say it once again: think globally. BMW's doing fine, and the U.S. market really doesn't matter all that much anymore.

the Americas is down as well as USA.. What region is the Americas?

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

the Americas is down as well as USA.. What region is the Americas?

The entire Western Hemisphere.

U.S. and Mexico/Latin America are broken off into subcategories -- the latter likely because of market and demographic similarities. I would assume the few thousand of units that are left over is Canada/Carribbean.

The U.S. is the vast majority of Americas sales, so the double-digit gains YTD gains seen in the Mexico/LA market aren't enough to pull the number out of the red.

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by BMWFanatic2008

Not easy to win every single market. I am sure US sales will bounce back at some point in the future. Also, their best sellers in China are probably low end models which we might not even have here in US eg 316 or something like that. Different product lineups for various markets.

Yes I expect that The market introduction of the new X3 later this year will provide a necessary kick start to US sales.
Looking at the US market in general sales are being driven by SUVs and crossovers and that is not just the premium import manufacturers but domestic as well. The new 1er Sedan exclusive to China is proving very popular. And we cannot count the 5er Touring as yet as it just launched in late May.