Overall sales of BMW vehicles in the U.S. were still slumping in October, with 23,208 vehicles moving out of dealerships, a 3.4% drop from October of 2016. Year-to-date sales for 2017 were also down—4.2% to be precise—with U.S. deliveries of 243,383 vehicles.
That's not to say sales of all models were down. A total of 3,396 G30 BMW 5 Series were sold in October, and that's a 132.3% leap over the same month last year. BMW 4 Series sales were up 11.5% to 3,181 cars, while the BMW X5 was a sales leader at 4,254 units, a 9.5% increase.
“Both the new 5 Series and 4 Series continued to perform well in October, while X5 numbers were bolstered by increased availability in the market,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “Electrified vehicles also showed strong momentum last month, with nearly 20% of all 5 Series sold as plug-in hybrids. With the launch of the all-new BMW X3 just days away, we have high anticipation for November.”
A bright spot in the BMW Group's U.S. effort was electrified vehicles. Battery electric vehicles (BEV) like the i3 and plug-in hybrids such as the i8 Coupe and the iPerformance versions of the 3 Series, 5 Series, X5, 7 Series, and Mini Countryman increased dramatically through the first ten months of 2017, with sales levels 20.6% higher than during the same period in 2016. A total of 15,595 electrified BMW Group vehicles were sold in the U.S. through the end of October.
The next big thing for BMW will be the X3 Sports Activity Vehicle that will be showing up in dealerships this month. Some of the sales lethargy is almost certainly due to a sizeable number of X3 fans who have been waiting for the new X3 that by all accounts, promises to be a winner.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
