U.S. BMW brand sales were up 0.3% during December, while 2018 as a whole marked yet another year of growth for the automaker, with sales increasing 1.7%. More specifically, December witnessed U.S. deliveries of 34,357 compared to 34,253 last year, while the twelve-month total of 311,014 surpassed 2017’s 305,685.
December marked the fourteenth consecutive month of brand sales growth in the U.S., an achievement made possible in-part by models such as X3, which just set another monthly record, along with the 5 Series—that’s a 750il above—and the new X5 as well. Exciting models on the horizon include the X7, and the new 3 Series which is scheduled to have its market launch in the next few months.
The X line of SAVs was responsible for 63% of growth during December, and for the tenth consecutive month, the X3 was the top-selling BMW model in the U.S., with the new X5 coming in second. When looked at as a whole, the X3 and X5 accounted for two of every five BMWs sold in the U.S. during December. Boiling things down to the numbers, light truck sales were up 33.6% during December with 16,929 units sold compared with 12,673 during the same period of 2017. For 2018, the figure is 117,549, against 103,484 sold during 2017, or an increase of 13.6%.
BMW Group Electrified Sales, including BMW i, BMW i Performance and MINI Electric totaled 2,774 for December, an increase of 2% over last December’s total of 2,720. Things are a bit more positive over the long term, with sales exceeding 25,000 units over the year for the first time, an increase of 17.9% above 2017. The current electrified model offering is made up of five distinct vehicles; i3, i8, 530e, 740e and the MINI Countryman Hybrid, although it’s only a matter of time until the new X545e and an electrified drivetrain G20 3 series become available to restore the number back to seven before it increases again.
MINI sales were down severely during December, with the brand carding a decrease of 39.3% from 2,797 vehicles sold versus 4,611 during the same month a year ago. Countryman sales remain a silver lining, with the model seeing an increase in deliveries of 18.2% from 2017’s total of 14,864. For 2018 as a whole, MINI sales decreased 7.3% from 47,105 in 2017 to 43,684.
MINI Certified Pre-owned (CPO) deliveries totaled 988 during December, an increase of 16.8% over the 846 sold a year prior, although total MINI pre-owned sales of 2,461 represented a decrease of 6.5% compared to the 2,631 sold during December of 2017. 2018 as a whole saw MINI CPO sales increase 24% from 10,922 to 13,539, while MINI pre-owned sales grew 4.9% from 30,381 to 31,867.
BMW pre-owned sales are almost universally down in most metrics. December logged a decrease of 14.9%, from 11,589 delivered a year ago to 9,858 last month. During 2018, 123,291 CPO sales took place, which translates to a decline of 9.3% compared to the 135,864 moved during 2017. Pre-owned sales as a whole of 21,388 were down 0.3% from December 2017’s total of 21,542, but for 2018 in total, they increased 2.5% from 238,586 to 244,665.—Alex Tock
[Photos courtesy BMW AG.]
