BMW Group Has Best July Sales Ever. Electrified Vehicle Sales Top 50,000 YTD

[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

BMW Group Has Best July Sales Ever. Electrified Vehicle Sales Top 50,000 YTD

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August 10, 2017

Year-to-date electrified sales increase 74.8% to 50,711 +++ BMW Group delivers 1,401,551 vehicles in ytd, up 4.3% +++ BMW Group sales in July up 0.4% to 180,726 +++

Munich. The BMW Group had its best July ever, with sales in the month totalling 180,726, a 0.4% increase year-on-year. The company also sold more vehicles than ever before in the first seven months of the year with a total of 1,401,551 (+4.3%) vehicles delivered to customers around the world.

“Following a record first half-year, our sales in July remain at a very high level, with profitability our primary focus,” said Dr Ian Robertson, Management Board Member for Sales and Brand BMW. “Despite continuing headwinds in the USA, as well as the model changeover of the BMW X3 and the BMW 5 Series in China, we were still able to achieve last year’s high sales levels, due to our policy of balanced global sales growth. Sales of our electrified vehicles continue to develop extremely well, with all nine of our electrified cars playing their role in this success,” he continued.

July saw yet another milestone for the BMW Group’s unmatched range of electrified vehicles: more than 50,000 BMW i, BMW iPerformance and electrified MINI vehicles have been delivered to customers around the world since the start of the year. The BMW Group now has a total of nine electrified automobiles on the market: sales of these vehicles totalled 50,711 in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 74.8% on the same period last year. This makes the BMW Group the world’s 3rd biggest BEV/PHEV manufacturer. The BMW i3 is the best-selling compact battery-electric vehicle in the Premium Segment worldwide since 2014, with the sales curve showing a clear upward trend.

Global BMW brand sales in July were at last year’s extremely high level. A total of 153,511 (+0.1%) BMW automobiles were delivered to customers around the world. The first seven months of the year were the most successful ever for the brand with 1,191,547 vehicles sold, an increase of 4.5%. A wide range of models throughout the portfolio contributed to this growth. The BMW X family continues to be a major growth driver – despite the current model changeover of the BMW X3 - with overall BMW X sales up 15.4% (407,492). The BMW 1 Series (107,460 / +8.5%) and BMW 7 Series (37,159 / +21.9%) also achieved notable growth. Meanwhile in July, the new BMW 5 Series achieved sales growth of 34.9% (17,712) in markets excluding China. The BMW 5 Series is currently in model changeover in China, where BMW 5 Series sales in July are down 47.2% (6,766) year-on-year.

Sales of MINI brand vehicles also continued to grow in July, with 26,974 units delivered to customers around the world, an increase of 2.0% compared with the same month last year. In the first seven months of 2017, a total of 208,188 MINI vehicles were sold, an increase of 3.4% year on year. The MINI Convertible (21,248 / +23.4%) and MINI Clubman (34,086 / +6.5%) showed very positive sales growth in the year to date. The new MINI Countryman was the main growth driver with sales up 33.5% (6,810) in July.

In July, BMW Motorrad once again achieved an all-time high with 14,835 motorbikes and maxi-scooters delivered to customers. This was an increase of 7.6% compared to the previous year. With 103,224 units delivered in the first seven months of the year and an increase of 9.2% compared to the same period last year, BMW Motorrad is well on its way to a further record sales year in 2017.

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

With an increasingly volatile economic situation in several markets, the BMW Group continues to follow its policy of balancing sales around the world, in order to achieve profitable, sustainable growth.

Headwinds in the significant UK market led to a slight decrease in sales in Europe in July, but sales in the region in the year to date remain slightly above the very high level of last year, with growth of 1.7%. France (51,569 / +3.6%) and Spain (35,731 / +8.9%) were two of the regions more significant growth drivers.

BMW Group sales in Asia continue to grow this year, driven mainly by China, where combined BMW and MINI deliveries are up 17.0% in the first seven months of the year.

The downturn in the US automotive market is reflected in the BMW Group’s figures for the Americas, which in the year to date are 3.5% below last year’s level.

[BMWZ4]

[GMe90]

So basically, China and the U.S. have different tastes in cars.

[Mr.SugarSkulls]

I was waiting for that last paragraph. And sales in the US will continue to plummet unless residuals/incentives improve!!

[evanevery]

"The BMW i3 is the best-selling compact battery-electric vehicle in the Premium Segment worldwide since 2014, with the sales curve showing a clear upward trend."

Notice how they craftily use the two qualifiers "compact" and "premium" to filter out a multitude of their EV competitors in one stroke?

(Tesla doesn't make a "compact" EV - not even sure the new Model 3 would be considered "compact"...)

So, um, NO! Nice fabricated statistic - but so contrived as to be largely irrelevant.

[MSCD]

Originally Posted by evanevery

So, um, NO! Nice fabricated statistic - but so contrived as to be largely irrelevant.

The phrase that comes to mind is 'there's liars, damn liars and statisticians'.

[F80NJM3]

It will continue to get worse... Terrible residuals, less maintenance & no MSD's won't help.

[RPiM5]

I also love the use of the word "electrified" by them. Although they do mention all of the segments of BMW's "electrified" products to include the all new G30 530e, I feel that it is a bit misleading in making the reader think that they are talking about Pure EV's like the i3 without the ReX. (I actually saw my first G30 530e in the wild last week, it looked pretty good I'd say, but BMW really needs to step up their game in the Plug-In Hybrid Segment, the new Hyundai Ioniq has a range of about 690 miles for example, I know its not in the same segment, but still, a 15 mile all electric range is peanuts for the 530e compared to the competition)

Meanwhile over at GM, Chevy Bolt EV sales are going through the roof, and from the time they went on sale last December to the end of July, they weren't even on sale in all 50 U.S. States! After August 2016, the Bolt EV will be on sale nationwide, then we'll see who sells more "electrified" vehicles. Lol!

http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/chevr...sales-numbers/

[evanevery]

Despite not really headed in the right direction (IMHO), I have faith that BMW will eventually manufacturer a pure EV which can compete with Tesla.

BMW needs to build optimized, practical EV's with good range (250+ Miles) and NOT try to pursue a multi-purpose non-optimised platform which can accommodate multiple propulsion systems (EV/ICE/Hybrid). They will end up with garbage that competes with no one on any front (EV or ICE). BMW will eventually figure this out - it just matters how long it takes...

I'm on my third BMW and currently have a Tesla Model X. While the build quality of the Tesla is no where near the BMWs, its far more useful as a daily driver and is a hoot to drive.

While BMW will eventually figure out how to make a really good EV, Tesla will also be improving their build quality. Tesla already has a huge advantage in market share - and they have several cars which are very useful and practical. Since BMW is starting at a disadvantage, they will need to cross the intersection of build quality and EV practicality well before Tesla gets there if they want to grab any meaningful market share in the near term. Otherwise it will be too-little, too-late...

[David70]

Originally Posted by Mr.SugarSkulls

I was waiting for that last paragraph. And sales in the US will continue to plummet unless residuals/incentives improve!!

Yes if they put big discounts on them the volume will go up, they realize this, also possibly a bad business decision. I think increasing residuals past what BMW thinks they should be is just asking for problems in the future (kicking the can down the road).

When we see that U.S. sales are down we say they lost their way so when we see that worldwide sales are up we then say they they are on the right track?

[MSups6]

Chinese hatred for Japanese is really saving Bimmers ass in China.

They need to become more price competitive in NA to better sales.

[omg618]

Originally Posted by MSups6

Chinese hatred for Japanese is really saving Bimmers ass in China.

They need to become more price competitive in NA to better sales.

This is a valid point but I applaud the American driver for turning it's back on BMW. The cars have lost the zest that made BMW who they are.

At this moment, in my mind, BMW's best cars/leaders in the segment are the 4 (coupe) and the X5. Both have aged gracefully and are top-notch driver's vehicles in their class. Unfortunately, the other series are (at best) level or looking up at the competition in terms of dynamics and styling. It is what it is. I don't view the G11 or G30 as anything earth-shattering, they're both valid options in a cluttered field; more so the G30 because the G11 has little on the S Class.

Another gripe is the service department. It's the same as it was 20 years ago. I guess "free" maintenance has kept progress in check but in South Florida the Bimmer dealers have nothing on Benz.

This is unfortunate for me because I'm a BMW fan through in through. I own two Benzes and don't follow one of their sites or message boards. They're great cars, especially my diesels (RIP), but it lacks a passion.

Anyhow, tangent over. Some manufacturer will eventually fill the void; Audi doesn't count.

[conradb]

Looks like the west has shunned BMW at this point. If BMW continues on their trajectory of making half-assed cars at sky high prices, this trend will continue down. Looks like Asia and Latin America are buying in, though.

[vladberca]

Chinese market is the key one that makes the difference.
While the E Class has fantastic sales there, the G30 is still not available. Sometimes they're moving too slow.

[BimmerMat135]

But of course BMW know better than us what we want. North American sales results are showing... Anyway a transfert case that need replacement at 50000kms is probably going to be the last nail in the coffin.