March 2018: BMW Group U.S.

[William Maley]

BMW Group U.S. Reports March 2018 Sales

• BMW Group sales decrease 0.4 percent in March 2018.
• BMW brand sales increase 1 percent.
• MINI brand sales decrease 9.1 percent.
• BMW Group electrified vehicle sales increase 71.1, accounting for 7.4 percent of total U.S. sales in March 2018.

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – April 3, 2018… Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 1 percent in March 2018 for a total of 31,311­­ compared to 31,015 vehicles sold in March 2017. Through Q1 2018, BMW brand sales are up 3.0 percent year-over-year.

BMW brand sales in March 2018 were once again led by BMW’s lineup of Sports Activity Vehicles and the BMW 5 Series, which has shown strong growth for nine straight months.

“It’s Spring and thoughts naturally turn to new cars with March giving us another uptick in sales – five months in a row – as the 5 Series continues to defy conventional thinking and proves there’s still a place in the market for a great sedan,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “At the same time, our X model lineup is expanding with the X2 now fully in the marketplace and Sports Activity Vehicles nearing 50% of our sales.”

MINI Brand Sales
For March, MINI USA reported 4,531 vehicles sold, a decrease of 9.1 percent from the 4,987 sold in the same month a year ago.

BMW Group Sales
In total, BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported March 2018 sales of 35,842 vehicles, a decrease of 0.4 percent from the 36,002 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago.

BMW Group Electrified Vehicle Sales
BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) sales of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles totaled 2,662 in March 2018, an increase of 71.1 percent from the 1,556 sold in the same month a year ago. BMW Group electrified vehicles accounted for 7.4 percent of U.S. sales in March 2018.

 

[smk4565]

I heard Peter DeLorenzo on Autoline After Hours say how BMW was lost or dead in the water or something, but they outsold Mercedes last month and their cars were up 10% even though 2 of their cars aren't really cars.

[A Horse With No Name]

Mini is still kind of sucking water, but the SUV they ahve is doing OK.

[balthazar]

BMW has all along curiously placed the X1 under 'cars'... now the X2 is under 'cars' also.
Move those 2 models back to 'trucks' and (proper) cars are down 15%.

Nah, that can't be why they're doing it that way...
- - - - -

I would not remotely be surprised if OEMs moved to a system where the classifications ('car', 'truck') are dropped and everything is grouped together, especially as most of these small CUVs really are just tall cars with nothing in the way of truck capabilities.
 

Edited April 4, 2018 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

X1 and X2 are on the Mini FWD transverse engine platform, so they are cars..not remotely trucks or SUVs. 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

BMW codes it as a CUV by naming it with an 'X', and every reviewing entity out there groups & terms it a CUV/SUV. Your fav, Wikipedia, defines it as a "crossover SUV". Even BMWUSA calls it a 'sport activity vehicle'. Not seeing anyone anywhere calling it a 'car'... other than the BMW sales report. Simple physical form of the X1 supports all of this.

[Robert Hall]

   I tend to think of crossovers or CUVs as being the car -based models, while SUVs are either on dedicated platforms (Wrangler, Grand Cherokee, etc) or on truck-based platforms (Tahoe, Suburban, etc).    Maybe as far as reporting sales/categorizing their needs to be a 3rd way--- categorize CUVs & SUVs separately from cars and trucks.  

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[smk4565]

GM doesn’t split car and truck.

[ccap41]

Just group everything together, who gives a fck? 

[Robert Hall]

16 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

GM doesn’t split car and truck.

Ford splits into 3 categories--car, SUV, and truck..that's convenient. 

[balthazar]

The separation factors have been trending more & more minimal- cars & CUVs on same platforms with same powertrains, more cars getting AWD... the definition is becoming more & more fuzzy. IMO, there's a TON of overlap and I can see merging similar size/powertrain vehicles into 1 vehicle rather than clinging to these minor separations, especially on the smaller end of the spectrum. For example, the corolla & the RAV4 : case can be made to build a higher hatched sedan with a 2.0L and kill off the other 2.