Sales figures for the 2018 year have just been published and it looks like the BMW Group managed to overtake Daimler in the non-official but totally real ‘sales war’ we’re dealing with today. The BMW Group sold a total of 2,490,664 (+1.1%) BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce models worldwide in 2019 while Daimler (Mercedes-Benz and smart brands included) added up to 2,438,987 units (+0.6%). When it comes to the BMW and Mercedes-Benz brands, the company with the three-pointed star claims the win with 2,310,185 units vs 2,125,026 for the Bavarian brand.
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Nevertheless, BMW’s year was a record breaker for the eight time in a row. Sales of the BMW-brand vehicles went up by 1.8 percent compared to 2017 and the Munich-based giant is expecting even better numbers in 2019: “While we expect market conditions to remain challenging this year, new models like the all-new BMW X7 and the seventh generation of the BMW 3 Series, combined with an ever-greater focus on our customers and their needs, mean we at the BMW Group expect to grow sales slightly in 2019, while maintaining our clear focus on profitability,” said Pieter Nota, BMW AG responsible for sales and brand BMW.
Of course, the best-selling models in the range were SUVs, as expected. Sales of X family models went up by 12.1 percent to 792,590 units or 37.3% of all BMW sales. The BMW 5 Series was also quite popular, sales of the sedan going up by 12.7 percent in 2018, a total of 328,997 units being delivered to customers last year. The biggest increase, percentage-wise was in the electrified field though, where sales have gone up by 38.4 percent.
In total, 142,617 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold around the world in 2018. The plug-in hybrid BMW 530e was the company’s top-selling electrified vehicle in 2018. In total, 40,260 were sold around the world, accounting for 12.2% of global BMW 5 Series sedan sales. The MINI Countryman Cooper S E ALL4 also proved to be quite successful, adding up to 13,219 units, accounting for 13.3% of all MINI Countryman sales. The BMW i3 posted a sales increase of 10.6 percent, despite being 5 years old, 34,829 units being sold worldwide.
As for what region bought the most cars, it’s pretty obvious that Asia claimed the biggest chunk, thanks to the world’s biggest car market, China. The Chinese market recorded an increase of 7.7 percent last year, buying 639,953 BMW cars. The US market came in second with 354,698 units (+0.5%) while Germany claimed the third place with 319,134 units (+2.5 percent). The EU market once again was the biggest customer as a whole buying 1,097,654 units overall.
| In December 2018 | Compared with previous year % | In ytd December 2018 | Compared with previous year % | |
| Europe | 97,568 | -5.2 | 1,097,654 | -0.3 |
| – Germany* | 29,400 | -0.1 | 319,134 | +2.5 |
| – UK | 21,766 | +2.8 | 237,895 | -1.4 |
| Asia | 84,716 | +8.8 | 874,828 | +3.2 |
| – China (Mainland) | 62,895 | +20.9 | 639,953 | +7.7 |
| – Japan | 8,664 | +2.5 | 78,001 | -2.0 |
| Americas | 45,176 | -5.9 | 456,325 | +1.4 |
| – USA | 37,154 | -4.4 | 354,698 | +0.5 |
| – Latin America | 5,107 | -6.3 | 54,858 | +8.1 |
BMW will definately win 2019 year. With new X5, X7, 8 series, 3 seies, and 7 LCI it will remain #1
Maybe it will win with Daimler but IMO BMW will have negative growth in USA and in Europe.
Model 3 series won’t sell as well as many predict. That’s because of Tesla Model 3. At first their sales will be low but in H2 it will accelerate because of increasing word of mouth and more and more visibility on the streets.
I own BMW 330e PHEV and plan to sell it to buy Tesla Model 3.
3 Series sedan is 1st of a whole range of new models, have Tesla even filled their waitlists? Also, new 3 & 4 Series will be available globally, Model 3 not so much. Tesla won’t have any real competition from BMW until i4, other manufacturers should be piling on by then also, so interesting times. BMW have announced a planned 50% increase in volume, partly from BEV (they’ve already doubled volume this century), Tesla sales & production still regional & in the thousands, so pretty apples vs. oranges comparo. Since American market is crossover happy & that’s a BMW strength (already their bestsellers), why would sales shrink?
First G20 got much better that F30. In terms of design, tech etc…So it’s going to sell much better that F30 I think. Second new X5/7 will boost USA sales significantly.
The only thing I don’t understand is why there is no 2 series salon in other markets rather than only in Cina and Mexico. Also l’m waiting for new 1 series hatch in 2019/20
Totally agree! BMW will take the sales crown once again!
BMW M: 102.780 units in 2018 (+ 27,2%)
vs AMG: 118.204 units 2018.
There are sooo many AMG models. That’s why they sold more. Curious to see comparison between exact models of M and AMG…
Bmw sold 7,823 units of M5 in 2018. That’s a new record.
Strong growth at BMW M GmbH: target smashed two years early
The performance cars of BMW M GmbH also achieved a new sales record with more than 100,000 (102,780 / +27.2%) of these thrilling vehicles delivered to customers around the world in 2018, meaning that ambitious milestone has been reached two years ahead of schedule. Top sellers include the BMW X3 M40i (19,670) (fuel consumption combined: 8.4 – 8.2 l/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 193 – 188 g/km), the BMW M2 (13,731) (fuel consumption combined : 10.0 – 9.0 l/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 227 – 206 g/km) and the BMW M5 (7,823) (fuel consumption combined: 10.8 – 10.7 l/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 246 – 243 g/km).
http://www.bmwusanews.com/newsrelease.do?id=3354&mid=