BMW Group: Sales continue to recover in August

Munich.  The BMW Group sold 91,790 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles worldwide in August. The decline in sales slowed for the fifth consecutive month (prev.yr. 101,679 / -9.7%). Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing: “We are heading in the right direction – since April we have continually regained ground month-on-month. In August the trend continued.
I am cautiously optimistic that we will be back on our growth path in the months ahead and will remain the leading international supplier of premium automobiles this year, even though we will not sell as many cars in total in 2009 as in 2008.”

BMW brand sales were 11.3% lower in August at 75,689 (prev.yr. 85,321) units. MINI sold 16,064 vehicles (prev.yr. 16,257 / -1.2%), while Rolls-Royce delivered 37 automobiles (prev.yr. 101 / -63.4%). Despite difficult market conditions, several BMW and MINI models made major gains: The BMW 7 Series grew by 21.0% (4,004 units/ prev.yr. 3,309) in the month under review, making it the clear global market leader in the luxury sedan segment. The BMW Z4 and BMW X6 models also remained on their growth path. A total of 2,469 (prev.yr. 1,264 / +95.3%) customers purchased the BMW Z4 – which is market leader in the roadster segment – in August. The BMW X6 made gains of 11.9% to reach a total of 3,049 (prev.yr. 2,724 / +11.9%) deliveries in August. Considerably more customers bought the MINI Convertible, with 2,507 units sold (prev.yr. 1,612 / +55.5%), and the MINI One (Hatch and Clubman versions), with 2,746 sales (prev.yr. 1,417 / +93.8%), than in August of the previous year.

Between January and August the BMW Group delivered 817,183 (prev.yr. 992,341 / -17.7%) automobiles worldwide. BMW sold 679,893 (prev.yr. 829,346 / -18.0%) units. Sales of the MINI brand for the year to the end of August were down 15.7% (136,879 units/ prev.yr. 162,297). The Rolls-Royce brand reported a decline in sales of 41.1% (411 units / prev.yr. 630) over the same period.

The BMW Group performed considerably better in its largest retail market, Germany. New registrations increased 3.5% to reach a total of 18,570 (prev.yr. 17,942). BMW brand sales were 1.1% (15,840 units/ prev.yr. 15,672) higher, while MINI reported gains of 20.3% (2,730 units/ prev.yr. 2,270) in Germany.

The Chinese market continued its dynamic growth as BMW Group sales climbed 63.2% (9,013 / prev.yr. 5,523) in August. Not only the compact and mid-sized BMW model series made substantial gains – the BMW 5 Series (2,768 / +70.0 %), the new BMW 7 Series (1,131 / +32.9%) and the BMW X5 (959 / +16.7%) and X6 (826 / +1,552.0%) models proved particularly popular in China. With sales of 354 vehicles, MINI also posted an increase of 61.6%. The BMW 5 Series, with 16,859 units sold (+33.6%), and the BMW 3 Series, with a total of 12,876 units (+7.3%), were the best-selling model series in China for the year to the end of August.

BMW Group sales also performed extremely well last month in Japan (2,859 / +9.5%), South Africa (1,786 / +6.0%) and Australia (1,436 / +1.3%). The BMW Group reported further growth in the Netherlands (1,485 / +25.4%), in Austria (1,093 / +19.8%), Canada (2,749 / +14.2%), Brazil (587 / +134.8%), New Zealand (115 / +59.7%), India (297 / +12.1%) and in South Korea (822 / +22.1%).

BMW Motorrad reported sales 14.4% lower than in August last year at 5,423 units (prev.yr.: 6,338). For the year to the end of August 2009, 62,001 (prev.yr.: 72,954 / -15.0%) motorcycles were delivered to customers worldwide.

BMW Group Sales in/up to August 2009 at a glance
In August 2009 Comp. to previous year Up to and incl. August 2009 Comp. to previous year.

BMW Group Automobiles 91,790 -9.7% 817,183  -17.7%
BMW 75,689 -11.3% 679,893  -18.0%
MINI 16,064 -1.2% 136,879  -15.7%
Rolls-Royce 37 -63.4% 411  -41.1%
BMW Motorcycles 5,423 -14.4% 62,001  -15.0%