BMW Group reports sales increase for year to October

BMW Group reports sales increase for year to October
07/11/2008

Ongoing consumer reticence in key sales markets +++ Sales down 8.3% in October +++ MINI still fastest-growing premium brand +++ 500,000 BMW X3 delivered

Munich. The BMW Group has increased its year-to-date sales by 0.7% compared with the same period last year. The number of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles sold rose by 8,492 vehicles to 1,226,990 units (prev.yr.: 1,218,498). Faced with persistently challenging market conditions and ongoing consumer reticence in Western Europe, Japan and the United States, the company saw sales decrease 8.3% in October, to 113,005 deliveries worldwide.

Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Sales and Marketing: "Faced with the extremely challenging conditions in the automotive markets, we no longer expect to exceed last year's record sales for the full year. In most Western European markets, Japan and the United States, sales for October were again lower than those for the same month last year. Equally the retail gains made in our growth markets were unable to fully offset those reductions. We have adjusted our production output to reflect the market and remain focussed on balancing supply and demand in the forthcoming months."

1,023,743 BMW brand automobiles were delivered to customers (prev.yr.: 1,034,815 /-1.1%) in the period to the end of October. In the first ten months of 2008, MINI sales climbed 10.5% to reach a total of 202,302 units (prev.yr.: 182,997) - which means the MINI brand is still the world's fastest-growing premium brand. Rolls-Royce was also able to make major gains during this period - 945 (prev.yr. 686) automobiles were delivered to customers: an increase of 37.8%.

The BMW brand sold 95,502 (prev.yr.: 105,178) vehicles worldwide in October (-9.2%). Sales of the BMW 1 Series continued to perform very well in the month under review (17,897 / +21.5%). With 13,558 vehicles delivered, more than three quarters of the BMW 1 Series sold in October were the three-door and five-door versions. Some 2,066 customers purchased the BMW 1 Series Convertible, launched in April of this year; while the BMW 1 Series Coupé, available since November of last year, was sold to 2,273 customers in the month under review. October 2008 also marked a milestone for the BMW X3: Just five years after the launch of the compact Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV), the 500,000th BMW X3 was presented to its new owner. With its sporty handling, the X3 continues to set the standard in the segment for compact premium off-roaders.

Since the production of the current MINI Convertible ended in August, the final units are gradually being removed from stock. Nonetheless during the past month 498 MINI Convertibles were still delivered to customers (prev..yr.: 2,147 / -76.8%). However, fans of the MINI Convertible will have to wait for the new model to be launched in the first half of 2009. Due to this temporary interruption in the MINI model programme, deliveries of the brand were 3.4% lower in October than for the same month last year. In the month under review, MINI delivered a total of 17,385 vehicles worldwide (prev.yr.: 17,989).

Last month the company once more reported particularly strong growth in the emerging markets of China (5,280 vehicles / +35.6%), Russia (1,707 / +39.7%) and India (220 / +10.0%). In Western Europe (62,017 / -11.6%), the United States (25,475 / -5.0%) and Japan (2,975 / -28.7%) the weakening economy caused sales for October to decline. In the home market Germany, the second largest automobile market for the BMW Group, deliveries of 25,764 vehicles were on par with last year's level (-0.2% / prev.yr.: 25,842). The BMW brand rose by 1.1% to 23,531 vehicles (prev.yr.: 23,286) while MINI recorded a decrease of 12.0% (2,233 vehicles / prev.yr.: 2,538). As a result the company performed better in October than the total market in Germany, which shrank by more than 8%.

Motorcycle sales totalled 7,714 vehicles (prev.yr.: 6,907 / -11.7%) in the month under review. 88,464 motorcycles were delivered to customers (prev.yr.: 89,686 / -1.4%) in the period to the end of October.