It's halftime in the great U.S. luxury-car sales race, and a record June pushed BMW to a 3,653-vehicle lead over Mercedes-Benz. This is a substantial—but not insurmountable—advantage, so the fight will probably go down to the wire in December.
Meanwhile, BMW of North America sold 32,176 BMWs in June, an increase of 6.5% over June of 2014.
“There’s no better follow-up to a record May than a record June with the numbers showing a consistent momentum for BMW as the year reaches the half-way point,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “It’s clear the U.S. is more in love with light trucks than ever before and the hardest part is supplying the demand. At the same time, I am delighted to see Mini gaining more traction as model availability continues to increase.”
Note that Mini sales, while important to BMW NA’s bottom line, do not affect the premium car sales title. The same is true of Daimler’s Sprinter vans and Smart cars.
BMW models that showed the most improvement in sales by percentage included the 2 Series, which increased 56.9 percent to 1,067 cars; the BMW 4 Series that saw a 69.4 percent jump to 6,625 vehicles sold;and the BMW X5, which experienced a—get ready for this—89.0 percent boost to 7,508 Sports Activity Vehicles.
Total June BMW Group sales in the U.S. (BMW and Mini combined) rose to 38,350 vehicles, an increase of 7.8 percent over the 35,577 vehicles sold in June 2014.
Mini USA reported selling 6,174 cars in June, an increase of 14.8 percent from the 5,376 sold in the same month a year ago.
BMW Certified Pre-Owned sold 9,326 vehicles in June, up 16.7 percent over June 2014. Total June BMW Pre-Owned sales were 15,069 vehicles.
Total Mini Pre-Owned sales were 2,432 cars, an increase of 25.9 percent over June of last year.
While Mercedes-Benz’s June sales showed a 5.8 percent gain over last June—which translated into a monthly sales total of 28,044 vehicles—it couldn’t match BMW’s 6.5 percent jump and 32,176 vehicles sold in June—so at the moment, Daimler is trailing BMW in U.S. premium car sales.
The two German companies at the top of the heap should not feel at all secure, however. Toyota's Lexus also had a great June, reporting an 11 percent increase last month to 26,121 units delivered. They are ready to pounce should BMW or Mercedes-Benz falter.—Scott Blazey
[Photographs courtesy of BMW AG.]
