U.S. sales of BMW brand vehicles were marginally higher in January and February 2017 compared to the same months in 2016, but in March, BMW sales jumped 3.3 percent. This was not only BMW's strongest showing of the year, it was enough to win the March premium segment sales race over Mercedes-Benz and Lexus.
BMW of North America sold 31,015 cars and SAVs in March versus 30,033 a year ago, and about 1,900 vehicles more than Mercedes-Benz sold in the U.S. in March.
In the first quarter of 2017, BMW delivered 71,682 units, representing a 1.5 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016.
“With the arrival of Spring, thoughts naturally turn to new cars and March gave us a nice boost as our Sports Activity Vehicles, the X3 and X5 in particular, continue to drive the growing demand,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “Our new BMW 5 Series is just breaking into what is a difficult market for sedans but orders are solid and with two more variants on their way, we are optimistic for the months ahead.”
Sales of BMW X3s totaled 6,395 vehicles—a 42.9 percent increase—while the 4,896 BMW X5s sold constituted a 35.4 percent jump.
Mini finally had good news with March sales of 4,987 cars, up 4.7 percent from a year ago.
Last year, when sales of new BMWs were down, sales of pre-owned BMWs were way up. This year continues that trend for pre-owned vehicles. In March 2017, BMW dealers sold 12,677 Certified Pre-Owned vehicles, which was 24.2 percent more than March 2016. Total BMW pre-owned sales were up 34.3 percent to 21,798 units.
Total sales of Mini pre-owned cars were also up 21.1 percent from a year ago but Mini Certified Pre-Owned deliveries dropped 3.0 percent. Total pre-owned Minis sold were 7,555 units.
Although BMWs premium sales were higher than Mercedes-Benz in March, BMW still trails Mercedes-Benz year-to-date by 7,459 vehicles.
To put the March sales figures in perspective, not every carmaker in the U.S. market experienced improving sales. Ford, Honda, Toyota, FCA, Hyundai, and Kia all experienced drops in sales for the month.
While BMW sales in the U.S. may not be climbing at the torrid pace that won them the premium car crown in 2015 and before, they are moving in the right direction at the moment with three straight modestly positive months.—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of BMW AG.]
