Even though most people would rush to call the current trade situation around the world a bit iffy, it looks like BMW is doing just fine for now. The German group reported its sales figures for the past month and, on a global scale, they went up by a good 4.4 percent. BMW brand sales went up 4.1 percent. In total, the BMW Group delivered 181,126 cars in August.
“This positive sales development underlines the impact of our model offensive. Our new X models are proving very popular with our customers,” said Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales. “Another positive is the continued strong sales growth of the BMW i3, the world’s most successful electric vehicle in its segment. The plug-in hybrid version of the new BMW 3 Series, the BMW 330e, was also added to our line-up of electric vehicles in August.”
In total, BMW sold 1,617,512 units in 2019 so far, an overall increase of 1.3 percent. It may not seem like much but in these dark waters, it’s quite an accomplishment. Of course, the SUVs are dominating the sales efforts, with 76,833 BMW X models being delivered worldwide last month alone. That’s an increase of 34.5 percent, by the way, accounting for almost half of all cars sold by the BMW Group.
Sales rose by 1.3% in Europe and 9.4% in China, with a further increase of 7.2% in the US market. Due to the model changeover of the BMW 1 Series, Germany posted negative growth for the month of August (18,723/-4.8%). “We still expect to achieve a slight increase in sales for the full year, even though the global market environment continues to be highly competitive and volatile,” said Pieter Nota. One very well deserved mention goes to the BMW i3, the EV posting an incredible rise in sales of 21 percent worldwide, even though it’s now in its sixth year of production.
