BMW Group posts increase of 7.8 per cent in January global sales

The BMW Group's sales growth of last year continued in January 2014 with deliveries increasing by 7.8 per cent. In the first month of the year, a total of 132,892 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles were delivered to customers (previous year 123,302).

"This is
a positive start, building on last year's success," said Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing BMW. "Looking ahead, although the economic climate remains challenging in many markets, there are signs of improvement and we are aiming for continued growth in 2014. We are launching some very exciting new models over the next few months and our target is to increase overall global sales for a fourth successive year," added Robertson.

BMW reported its best ever January: 117,164 BMW brand vehicles were delivered to customers, an increase of 9.2 per cent (previous year 107,302). Strong demand for the BMW 3-series Sedan continues with 22,451 models delivered, an increase of 4.6 per cent (previous year 21,457). Sales of the BMW X3 saw significant growth of 18.2 per cent to 12,095 units (previous year 10,231) and the newly launched BMW 4-series is proving popular with 4,046 4-series Coupes delivered to customers in January. The BMW 5-series was a significant growth driver with a total of 27,974 delivered worldwide (previous year 24,529/+14 per cent). The BMW 6-series Gran Coupe was also in high demand, with 993 deliveries in the first month of the year (previous year 725/+37 per cent).

Despite the upcoming model change, Mini sales remained stable with 15,510 models (previous year 15,864/-2.2 per cent) delivered worldwide in January. Sales of the Mini Clubman increased 18.9 per cent to 1,247 (previous year 1,049) and the Mini Countryman continues to be in strong demand with 6,425 models delivered since the start of the year (previous year 6,259/+2.7 per cent). The new Mini model is expected to bring further momentum to sales as of spring.

Following the strategy of balanced sales across the globe, the BMW Group maintained or increased sales in almost all sales regions. Deliveries of BMW and Mini models in Asia topped 50,000 for the first time in January with 50,841 deliveries (previous year 43,114/+17.9 per cent). Deliveries in Mainland China were up 22.2 per cent (37,137, previous year 30,397) and South Korea also saw significant growth with deliveries up 24 per cent (3,460, previous year 2,790).

In the Americas, a total of 25,977 BMW and Mini vehicles were delivered to customers (previous year 25,021/+3.8 per cent), with sales in the USA up 3 per cent (20,796, previous year 20,195). Sales in Brazil increased an impressive 32.4 per cent (961, previous year 726) and deliveries in Mexico increased by 26.4 per cent (1,212, previous year 959).

Despite continuing headwinds in Europe, BMW and Mini sales increased slightly, with 51,319 deliveries (previous year 50,617/+1.4 per cent). Significant double-digit growth of 32.4 per cent was recorded in the Netherlands (1,639, previous year 1,238) and sales in Scandinavia also grew strongly with 2,959 automobile deliveries in January (previous year 2,382/+24.2 per cent).

BMW Motorrad sales increased 12.9 per cent year-on-year with a total of 5,438 motorcycles delivered to customers in January (previous year 4,818).

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