The BMW Group continued to grow its worldwide sales in October, reaching a total of 204,295 vehicles (+1.7%). Deliveries in the year to date were up 1.7% on the same period of last year, with 2,070,496 premium BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles sold.
Sales of BMW brand vehicles grew by 3.0% in October to 176,291 units. In the first ten months of the year, BMW sales increased by 2.3% to 1,777,691 vehicles. Due to the new BMW 8 Series, new BMW 7 Series and all-new BMW X7 models, sales in the luxury segment grew by almost 60% in the year to date.
The BMW Group plans to double its sales in the luxury class between 2018 and 2020. BMW X models like the BMW X5, which sold 13,162 units (+67.5%) in October, and the BMW X3, which saw a year-on-year sales increase of 67.4% (256,148 vehicles) in the year to the end of October, also contributed to the brand’s growth.
Sales of BMW Group electrified vehicles were up 8.6% to 14.182 units in October, due to availability of the new BMW 330e and the BMW X5 xDrive45e. The BMW i brand, with the BMW i3 and BMW i8, continued its positive sales trend over the course of the year, with an increase of +19.3% to 34,479 units. Sales of the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 Plug-in Hybrid climbed 30.1% in the first ten months of the year to reach a total of 13,274 units. With the launch of the BMW X3 as a plug-in hybrid and the pure electric MINI Electric, the BMW Group will be expanding its range of electrified vehicles to 12 models by the end of this year.
The BMW Group intends to have one million electrified vehicles on the roads by the end of 2021. The company expects to have delivered a total of half a million fully-electric and plug-in hybrid BMW and MINI vehicles to customers by the end of this year. The BMW Group also plans to offer 25 electrified models by 2023 – more than half will be fully electric.
In a highly competitive segment and with a focus on profitable sales development, MINI brand sales in the year to the end of October totalled 288,613 units worldwide (-2.3%). Sales for the month of October were lower, at 27,589 units (-6.2%). In addition to its core models, John Cooper Works variants of MINI models were in particularly strong demand with customers in October.
In the year to date, BMW Motorrad continued to post solid sales growth and was able to maintain the same high level as the previous year. In the first ten months of 2019, a total of 149,577 BMW motorcycles and maxi scooters were delivered to customers around the globe (+7.0%). October sales were down 3.1%, at 12,645 units.
BMW and MINI sales in the regions/markets
Despite the various headwinds affecting the automotive industry worldwide, the BMW Group increased sales in important sales regions such as the Americas (+6.0%) and China (+8.8%) in October. Due to the success of the BMW X models and the new BMW X7, the BMW brand’s US sales were 9.4% higher year-on-year in October.
In the German market, a total of 29,041 BMW and MINI vehicles were sold in October: an increase of 2.5%. In the year to date, 269,389 vehicles (+3.6%) were delivered to customers. Year-to-date sales of the fully-electric BMW i3 in Germany were double the figure for the previous year (8.207 units). This has helped BMW to become the market leader in Germany for new registrations of electrified vehicles (source: IHS Markit 10/2019 Report).
In a global market environment that continues to be volatile and highly competitive, the company expects to achieve a slight increase in sales for the full year and remains committed to its strategy of prioritising profitability over volume.