Despite ongoing supply-chain shortfalls, BMW of North America sales grew 3.7% year-over-year during the first quarter, with deliveries increasing from 77,718 to 80,590. The BMW brand was up 3.2% year-over-year thanks to the sale of 73,714 vehicles compared with last year’s first quarter total of 71,433. The Mini Brand was also positive, this time by 9.4% thanks to deliveries expanding from 6,285 a year ago to 6,876 during the last quarter. BMW’s line of X vehicles produced at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina, including the X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7, accounted for 57% of first-quarter sales. Sales of BMW light trucks, a term that encompasses All of the aforementioned X vehicles along with the iX, grew 16.9% year-over-year during the first quarter, with deliveries increasing from 36,171 to 42,281. Sales BMW passenger cars, a term which encompasses all of the conventional BMW model series along with the Z4, X1, and X2, shrunk 10.9% from 35,262 to 31,433 during the first quarter.
“2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year for BMW in the U.S.,” said Sebastian Mackensen, president and CEO, BMW of North America. “As we continue to manage through the headwinds caused by ongoing supply chain bottlenecks, I’m happy to say that we’ve been able carry the sales momentum of 2021 into the new year. We’ve also successfully launched two new electric vehicles, which are perfect for the U.S. market and, with more fully electric models coming later this year, you can already see our company’s electrification strategy taking shape.”
For the first time since the G01 X3 was introduced for the 2018 model year, the G05 X5 beat it in terms of sales, and was the most popular BMW model sold in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2022. X5 deliveries increased 29.7% year-over-year from 12,700 to 16,477, while the X3, the second-most popular BMW model currently on sale, saw sales decline 7% year-over-year from 14,988 to 13,941. The BMW 3 Series was the third-most popular model during the first quarter, but deliveries dropped 13.5% from 9,426 to 8,156. The decline in 3 Series sales may be at least partially attributable to the availability of the second-generation 4 Series Gran Coupé. During the first quarter, 4 Series sales grew 54.2% with deliveries jumping from 4,785 to 7,379. The X7 was the fifth-most in-demand BMW model during the first quarter, with sales of 6,462 representing a 35.7% year-over-year gain from the 4,763 units delivered a year ago. The BMW iX became available during the first quarter, and 347 of them were delivered to customers.
The best-selling Mini model during the first quarter was the Countryman, with deliveries expanding 38.6% from 2,162 to 2,997. Behind the Countryman in terms of sales was the two-door Cooper S, of which 1,843 were sold during the first quarter, an increase of 4% over the 1,772 sold a year ago.
In previous years, BMW NA has also posted pre-owned and certified pre-owned BMW and Mini sales, but this year, numbers for the first quarter were not published.—Alex Tock
[Photos courtesy BMW AG.]
