Over a million BMW Group vehicles delivered in first five months of 2018

Munich. The BMW Group has sold more vehicles than ever before in the first five months of the year: more than a million customers worldwide have already taken delivery of their new BMW, MINI or Rolls-Royce vehicle in 2018 (1,003,573 / +1.6%). This record result was achieved despite the ongoing global ramp-up of BMW X3 production and volatility in China due to changes in import duties. These factors contributed to a slight decrease in the company’s monthly sales in May (204,041 / -2.1%).

“To have sold over a million cars by this point in the year is a real milestone,” said Pieter Nota, BMW AG Management Board member responsible for Sales and Brand BMW. “We’re particularly pleased to see that our X vehicles are more popular with our customers than ever, with record sales figures despite the lack of X3 availability in China. In the second half of the year, the X3 will once again become fully available worldwide, bringing increased sales momentum in the third and fourth quarters. Meanwhile, sales of our electrified vehicles are growing really strongly, with customer deliveries up by over 40%,” Nota continued.

Five years after its initial launch, customer demand for the BMW i models continues to grow at such a rate that production in Plant Leipzig will be increased by over 50% this autumn, to 200 cars a day. In the first five months of the year, sales of BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric vehicles jumped 41.0% to total 46,849. The growing trend towards electrification continues globally, with several significant markets reporting especially strong development. For example, electrified vehicles accounted for nearly 7% of all BMW and MINI models sold in the USA in the first five months of the year (9,762 / +61.0%) and more than 7% of BMW and MINI sales in the UK (6,555 / +34.2%). In some markets, electrified vehicles already account for more than half of all BMW and MINI sales. Examples here are Norway (4,125 / +5.8%) and Malaysia (2,313 / +37.9%). The BMW Group remains well on target to achieve its stated aim of selling over 140,000 electrified vehicles in 2018.

Sales of BMW X vehicles in the first five months of the year totalled 303,202 units (+3.4%) and accounted for 35.3% of all BMW brand sales. The brand has delivered 858,675 (+1.6%) vehicles to customers this year, with models such as the BMW 1 Series (82,828 / +11.6%) and the BMW 5 Series (156,105 / +12.5%) contributing to that growth. In the first five months of the year, global MINI brand sales increased by 1.2% (143,472). Meanwhile sales at BMW Motorrad in the first five months of the year totalled 70,007 / ‑1.6%. This year, BMW Motorrad is introducing nine new models and the related adjustments in production are affecting deliveries. Nonetheless, BMW Motorrad continues to strive for sales growth in 2018.

The changeover of all relevant BMW Group vehicles to the new European WLTP and RDE testing standards is proceeding according to plan, thanks to a timely focus on the issue.

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

While sales in the Americas achieved good growth in the year-to-date and in May, several other markets are more volatile. The ongoing headwinds in the UK market continue to affect sales there and the upcoming change in import duties in China has led to some short-term uncertainty due to the expected impact on pricing in that market overall. Meanwhile in Germany, several bank holidays in May meant there were two working days fewer than in the same month last year.

*Provisional registration figures

BMW Group sales in/ytd May 2018 at a glance:

*BMW i, BMW iPerformance, MINI Electric