Following on from a record-breaking 2014, where the BMW Group delivered more than two million vehicles, 2015 has got off to a good start with sales up 7% compared with the same month last year.
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A total of 142,154 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were delivered to customers in January, a new high for the month (prev. yr. 132,906).
BMW sales were higher than any previous January: 124,561 BMW brand vehicles were delivered to customers, 6.3% up on the same month last year (117,178). 4,247 customers took delivery of the recently launched 2 Series Active Tourer and demand for the new BMW 4 Series vehicles remains strong with a total of 8,537 delivered worldwide.
The success of the BMW X family also continues. A total of 4,555 BMW X4s were sold in January while the BMW X5 saw significant sales growth of 40.9% compared with the same month last year (12,035 / prev. yr. 8,540). Sales of the BMW X6 showed positive growth with 2,889 delivered worldwide, 2.5% up on the previous year (2,819).
In the first month of the year, sales of the innovative BMW i vehicles totalled 1,845. Around the world, 1,416 customers took delivery of a BMW i3 while sales of the BMW i8 in January totalled 429.
Overall sales of MINI brand vehicles were also higher than ever before in January, with the brand achieving double-digit growth of 12.0% compared with the same period last year (17,373 / prev. yr. 15.510).
Sales of the new MINI 3 door are up 33.6% on the same period last year, totalling 7,502 units (prev. yr. 5,616) and the new MINI 5 door model was delivered to a total of 3,876 customers worldwide.
Following the strategy of balanced sales across the globe, the BMW Group saw sales increase in almost all regions.
Deliveries of BMW and MINI models in Asia were up 6.6% compared with January last year (54,188 / prev. yr. 50,841) with several markets contributing to the growth. Deliveries in Mainland China increased by 7.9% (40,081 / prev. yr. 37,137) while sales in South Korea rose 16.9% (4,045 / prev. yr. 3,460).
In the Americas, a total of 27,450 BMW and MINI vehicles were delivered to customers (prev. yr. 25,977 / +5.7%). Sales in the USA totalled 22,209, an increase of 6.8% (prev. yr. 20,796). Sales in Brazil grew by a significant 18.5%, with a total of 1,139 customer deliveries (prev. yr. 961).
The positive growth seen in Europe in 2014 continues into January, with the region posting sales up 8.5% on the same month last year. A total of 55,676 new BMW and MINI vehicles were delivered to customers in the region in January (prev. yr. 51,333). Double-digit growth was recorded in a number of markets. Sales in Scandinavia were up 11.5% compared with January last year with a total of 3,300 vehicles delivered to customers (prev. yr. 2,959).
Similar sales growth was seen in the Netherlands, where 1,820 vehicles were sold in January (prev. yr. 1,639 / +11.0%). Positive growth was also achieved in the BMW Group's home market in Germany, where 19,396 new BMW and MINI vehicles were registered (prev. yr. 18,760 / +3.4%).
The year has started very positively for BMW Motorrad. A total of 6,263 maxi-scooters and motorcycles were delivered to customers, a sales increase of 15.2% compared with January last year (prev. yr. 5,438). ■