Crisis? What Crisis? BMW Has Another Record Month

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

While carmakers in France and Italy complain about overcapacities in a declining European market, makers of German premium cars are reporting sales records. After astounding growth at Mercedes, BMW now announces its best ever February.

The BMW Group sold 127,634 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars worldwide in February, a gain of14.2 percent.

BMW notes a “particularly strong demand for all BMW X models last month.” BMW sold 9,059 X1, 11,053 X3, 8,194 X5, and 3,414 X6. Of the MINI, 20,020 were sold. Rolls-Royce sales remained unmentioned.

Drivers of the growth: The usual suspect China (+38.8 percent,) and the unusual suspect U.S.A. (+31.5 percent.)

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • SherbornSean SherbornSean on Mar 07, 2012

    Despite all the criticism that BMW has abandoned the enthusiast, you have to credit them for transfroming themsleves from a marginal niche player to a global powerhouse. They've left room for a mainstream automaker to become the enthusiast's choice. But the lack of sales for the G8, Mazda3, RX-8, SHO, etc. validates BMW's decision to focus on luxury crossovers.

  • Hreardon Hreardon on Mar 07, 2012

    Sherbornsean - good point. The fact is, BMW is the one of the vulnerable players due to its (relatively) small size in comparison to the behemoths out there, specifically Volkswagen. Since they haven't been able to do this through acquisition (Rover debacle), the only way toward economies of scale is to increase volume - and right now that means somewhat watering down and irritating the purists. It's going to be interesting to watch how the VW group evolves over the coming years with Porsche now in the fold: will we see Audi focus less on performance and more on luxury? Will we see Porsche move downmarket to attract more volume and focus on being a "sporting brand" at all price points?

  • Sundowner Sundowner on Mar 07, 2012

    BMW, for all it's faults (why did you take the dipstick and spare tire?!?) has stayed the most true to the enthusiasts. You can still get a stick in everyhting 3 series, including the wagon, and they don't cheat the US market out of hi-po variants. They actually take constructive criticism (thank you for getting rid of that monumental ass, Chris Bangle), and they have an open relationship with the enthusiast community. Very nice when comapred to Audi who seem hellbent to force me into one of three gray automatic sedans pre-equipped with a 2.0T motor. Now if only BMW could kill all the vomitious fat butt coupe sedan thingies....

  • George B George B on Mar 07, 2012

    I like the new 2012 BMW 328i and might even buy one. The only barriers now are the price of dealer-loaded units available for sale and some concern about long-term repair cost. The previous model was just too small for 4 adults and the performance of the 328i was a little weak for the price. The new one combines great 0-60mph acceleration numbers with great EPA fuel economy numbers, efficient packaging for people and their stuff, and conservative styling that should hold up over time. A now former girlfriend wants a Mini Cooper. I was initially skeptical, but it appears to be an interesting car with good resale value at a reasonable price. Not a bad choice for someone who wants a small, somewhat economical car that's not a penalty box.

    • See 3 previous
    • Krhodes1 Krhodes1 on Mar 07, 2012

      @Slab IPod, USB and Bluetooth were free on my '11 328iT, but let's not let the facts get in the way of a good rant.

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