The BMW Group which includes the MINI brand has sold more than 250,000 electric vehicles so far. The company’s highly successful electrified vehicles are contributing strongly to the ongoing sales success and April saw the achievement of a significant milestone.
“We are delighted to announce that there are now over a quarter of a million electrified BMW Group vehicles on the world’s roads,” said Pieter Nota, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Sales and Brand BMW. “Combined sales of BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric vehicles were up 52% in April (9,831), bringing the total number of electrified BMW Group cars sold to over 250,000,” Nota continued. “We are well on track to deliver on our stated target to sell over 140,000 electrified vehicles this year,” he concluded.
In the first four months of the year, BMW Group Electrified sales totalled 36,692 units, up 41.7% on the same period last year. This considerable growth in electrified sales was spread across many markets, including USA (7,716 / +73.3%), the UK (5,059 / +25.6%) and Mainland China (3,181 / +646.7%). The result in China is due to the success of the recently launched, locally produced BMW 5 Series plug-in hybrid. In April, electrified vehicles accounted for 5% of global BMW Group sales, although in certain markets, that percentage is much higher. For example, in the UK, 9.0 % of all BMW Group sales are electrified, in the USA it’s 7.3%.
In the mature Scandinavian markets, over a quarter of all BMW Group sales are electrified and in Malaysia, electrified vehicles accounted for more than half of BMW Group sales in April. The main models driving electrified sales growth in April were the BMW 5 Series plug-in hybrid (2,670 / +711.6%), the BMW X5 plug-in hybrid (1,578 / +45.8%) (fuel consumption combined: 3,4-3,3 l/100 km; electricity consumption combined: 15,4‑15,3 kWh/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 78-77 g/km) and the BMW i3 (2,665 / +18.3%).
Worldwide sales of BMW brand vehicles increased slightly in April (167,275 / +1.6%) and deliveries in the first four months of the year also set a new all-time high level (684,724 / +2.5%). This is the “Year of X” at BMW, with the ramp-up of the new BMW X3, the introduction of the all-new BMW X2 and – later in the year – the new BMW X4 and BMW X5. In April, sales of BMW X models accounted for 36.8% of total BMW brand sales and were up 11.1% (61,536) compared with the same month last year. Even stronger X‑range sales growth is expected in the second half of the year, as availability of the new models increases.
In the first four months of the year, global MINI brand sales increased by 2.8% (113,704). Despite significant headwinds in the UK, the brand’s largest market, MINI sales in April (27,329 / -0.9%) achieved the same high level as the previous year.
The long winter in many markets has affected growth at BMW Motorrad, where sales for the first four months of the year are down 1.1% (52,957). BMW Motorrad is introducing nine new models this year, and the related adjustments in production are also affecting deliveries. Nonetheless, BMW Motorrad continues to strive for sales growth in 2018.
