New Car Review Areas


General Car Topics

BMW Shows 9.8% Increase in Group's Year-To-Date Sales


June 2006
 Filed under: BMW CORPORATE Car News | BMW CORPORATE Headlines

- 568,000 automobiles already sold this year
- Deliveries of the BMW brand rise by 13.3%

Munich (06/08/2006) -- In the first five months of 2006, BMW Group sales rose by 9.8% compared with the same period last year to reach 567,903 automobiles (previous year: 517,249). The company recorded the highest growth rate in percentage terms in the Chinese markets: Here, sales rose by 66.1% to 17,951 automobiles (previous year: 10,810). The product mix continues to be of a high quality. China, for example, continues to be the second-largest market for the BMW 7 series. In the period to the end of May, 3,620 units of this car, the flagship of the BMW brand, were delivered in China (previous year: 998/+263%). The BMW Group has also grown very dynamically in the European markets this year. In Italy, the increase in the months to May was 16.9%. 43,081 automobiles were delivered to customers here this year (previous year: 36,862). In Spain, the number of sales rose by 15.1% to 26,142 automobiles (previous year: 22,713). Belgium actually recorded a 30.6% increase to 15,929 automobiles leaving the dealerships (previous year: 12,197).
In May 2006, the number of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars delivered to customers rose by 5.5% to 119,972 (previous year: 113,688). The reason for the less strong growth rate in comparison with the year-to-date figures for the BMW brand is essentially the high base effect from the previous year – in March last year, the new generation of the BMW brand best-seller, the 3 Series Sedan, was launched in the market. Availability of the MINI brand remains limited because of the investments in the expansion of the Oxford plant.

Sales of the BMW brand rose by 13.3% year to date to reach 485,450 automobiles (previous year: 428,537). The main growth drivers are still the BMW core models – the 7 Series, 5 Series and 3 Series. The strongest increase was recorded for the BMW 7 Series. The number of units delivered rose by 40.4% to 20,938 automobiles (previous year: 14,917). For the 3 Series, sales rose by 38.8% or 55,822 vehicles to 207,469 units (previous year: 151,647). The 5 Series posted sales of 96,404 vehicles. This is an increase of 4.3% over the same period in the previous year (92,441).
Because of last year´s high level, as already mentioned, the increase on a month-on-month basis, at 6.7%, is below the level of the increase for the period ending May. In total, in May, 102,515 BMW brand vehicles were delivered (previous year: 96,108).

Because of the building work to expand the capacity of the Oxford plant, the number of MINI available is less then the level of demand. For this reason, MINI deliveries through May were also below the previous year's level (88,476) at 82,239 (-7.0%). In May 2006, 17,401 MINI were sold (previous year: 17,536/-0.7%).

Rolls-Royce delivered 214 Phantoms in the year to May (previous year: 236/-9.3%). Sales in May, at 56 cars sold, were up 3.7% compared to May 2005 (54 units).

Motorcycle segment showed a clear increase of 12.8% in May
In the motorcycle segment, the growth impulses from the product offensive had a positive effect on sales. For the year to May, sales reached 43,635 motorcycles (previous year: 45,640) which is still 4.4% below the previous year. In May this year, the number of motorcycles delivered rose clearly by 12.8% to 12,421 units (previous year: 11,012).

Source: BMW Group

Latest BMW CORPORATE Headlines

Latest Car News

All images courtesy of and copyright their respective manufacturers, unless otherwise indicated. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any way without the express written permission of their respective owners. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Model news and specifications are presented as provided by manufacturer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DIGIADS. No warranty is made by DIGIADS with respect to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.