BMW Group increased global sales of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles by 12.1 percent in March and 13.8 percent for the first quarter of 2010.
The company sold 315,614 vehicles worldwide, up from 277,264 in the first three months of last year. In March, BMW Group sold 141,701 vehicles, up from 126,381 vehicles.
All three brands made strong gains during the month. Sales of BMW brand vehicles climbed 12.7 percent while Mini sales increased by 9.1 percent and Rolls-Royce sales were up 78.6 percent.
“We are back on our growth track in nearly all the automobile markets,” said Robertson. “We intend to continue improving on last year’s figures throughout the second quarter — thanks not least to the new BMW 5 Series sedan and new models such as the 3 Series coupe and convertible.”
He added that “for 2010 as a whole, we are aiming for healthy growth in the single-digit percent range.”
Sales gains were quarterly records in Brazil, up 131.2 percent; Russia, up 11.6 percent; India, up 32.5 percent; China, up 106.1 percent; Austria, up 23.1 percent; South Korea, up 65.8 percent; and Malaysia, 14 percent. Latin America as a market was up 71 percent, and the Middle East sales increased by 13.1 percent.
The BMW Group was the only German auto manufacturer also to make gains in its largest single market, Germany, where it expanded its market share. In the United States, the company posted a 7.4 percent increase for the first quarter.
The company recently announced that BMW Manufacturing Co., its sole manufacturing facility in the United States, had exported more than 1 million vehicles since it began operations in 1994. Currently, about 70 percent of the Greer plant’s production is exported — primarily through the Port of Charleston — to more than 120 markets worldwide.
BMW’s larger model series were strong contributors to first-quarter gains. Sales of the BMW 7 series grew by 54.1 percent, while the BMW X5 and X6 models, both produced in Greer, grew by 9.5 percent combined.
Robertson said new orders for the new X1 and 5 Series sedan models are “looking very good — easily exceeding our already high expectations.”
The new BMW 5 Series sedan has been available in Europe since late March and will launch in the United States in June. Initial deliveries of the new BMW 5 Series Touring and the new Mini Countryman will begin in the autumn of 2010
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