Recession? What Recession? BMW On All-Time High

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Audi isn’t the only German premium brand to report stellar numbers in May. The Bavarian competition, 89km down south from Audi’s Ingolstadt, didn’t sit on their thumbs either. The BMW Group increased its May sales by 22.1 percent to 147,563 BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce brand vehicles. That’s an all-time sales high for the month of May. Year-to-date, the number stands at 667,511 units for a growth of 20.7 percent, BMW says in an emailed statement. What they don’t say is even more outstanding …

Where did they sell all those cars? Mainly in Germany (29,372 units, +27.7%), in the U.S. (26,452 units, +19.7%), and of course in China (21,150 units, +51.1%). As far as premium cars are concerned, the China boom rages on.

Solid double-digit growth was also reported from the BRIKT markets: Brazil (+57.3%), Russia (58.3%), India (+160.9%), Korea (+49.1%) and Turkey (130.2%).

BMW outdistances Audi both in May and on a YTD level.

As far as individual brands go, the table says it all. Except for one brand that needed a bit of work.

With inherited British understatement, BMW does not quote any sales numbers for Rolls Royce. “Rolls-Royce Motor Cars saw sustained sales growth in all markets during the period” is all the press release yields.

Are they hiding anything? Yes, a surprising success. After some spreadsheet work and a little back and forth with BMW headquarters, we now can also add the official numbers for Rolls Royce: 88.8 percent growth year-to-date, a phenomenal number. Luxury is alive and well.

BMW Group May 2011 Results

May ’11May ’10GrowthYTD ’11YTD ’10GrowthBMW Group Automobiles147,563120,85422.1%667,511553,03320.7%BMW121,168101,82219.0%555,429465,96419.2%MINI26,10418,84838.5%110,80286,09328.7%Rolls Royce29122032.3%1,28067888.8%BMW Motorrad12,56812,1433.5%48,74945,4327.3%Husqvarna Motorcycles5371,326-59.5%3,0803,607-14.6%

Black: Published data. Grey: Calculated data. Blue: Calculated data corrected by BMW

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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  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
  • Dave Holzman A design award for the Prius?!!! Yes, the Prius is a great looking car, but the visibility is terrible from what I've read, notably Consumer Reports. Bad visibility is a dangerous, and very annoying design flaw.
  • Wjtinfwb I've owned multiple Mustang's, none perfect, all an absolute riot. My '85 GT with a big Holley 4 barrel and factory tube header manifolds was a screaming deal in its day and loved to rev. I replaced it with an '88 5.0 Convertible and added a Supercharger. Speed for days, handling... present. Brakes, ummm. But I couldn't kill it and it embarrassed a lot of much more expensive machinery. A '13 Boss 302 in Gotta Have It Green was a subtle as a sledgehammer, open up the exhaust cut outs and every day was Days of Thunder. I miss them all. They've gotten too expensive and too plush, I think, wish they'd go back to a LX version, ditch all the digital crap, cloth interior and just the Handling package as an add on. Keep it under 40k and give todays kids an alternative to a Civic or WRX.
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