BMW Group Starts The New Year With a Slight Increase
BMW brand increases by 3% in January
Positive outlook for the year for all brands
The BMW Group started the new year with a slight increase in sales of 0.5%. 94,276 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars were delivered to customers in January (previous year: 93,835).
Sales of the BMW brand increased by 3.0% to 80,629 (previous year: 78,265) automobiles.
As scheduled, sales growth of BMW brand vehicles is set to become far more dynamic over the course of the year. The new BMW 3 Series convertible and the revised BMW 5 and BMW 1 Series models will be appearing on the market in March this year. After its launch last November in the USA, the BMW X5 will also be available in European markets from March 2007. The three-door BMW 1 Series, which is being offered in this variant for the first time, will be following in May.
MINI still below last year, due to model cycle factors
Production of the new generation of MINI at the Oxford plant is running at full speed. This vehicle – the world’s most successful small car in the premium segment – has been available on European markets since November last year. At the moment, dealers in the overseas markets are also being supplied with the new MINI. In its largest market in terms of volume, the USA, MINI will thus only be launched in February. This means that MINI sales in January, at 13,622 automobiles delivered, are still 12.3% below the figure for the same month last year (15,540). For the year 2007 as a whole, the company is planning to break the sales record of 200,428 vehicles delivered in 2005.
In January this year, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars handed over 25 Phantoms to customers (previous year: 30/-16.7%). The company is also planning for Rolls-Royce, as the most successful brand in the absolute luxury class, to outstrip its 2006 sales of 805 automobiles in the year 2007.
As of this summer, this plan will be supported by a convertible model, the
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, which was given an excellent reception when it made its world début at the Detroit Motor Show.
Dr. Michael Ganal, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for sales and marketing: “We have once again undertaken a good deal for 2007 – the company strives for new sales records for all three brands. In this way, we intend to confirm our position as the world’s leading supplier of premium automobiles once again.â€?
In the motorcycle segment, sales also developed satisfactorily at the start of the year. 4,152 units sold means that 5.1% more vehicles were delivered to customers than in the same month last year (3,950).
