June 2015: BMW Group U.S.

[William Maley]

BMW Group U.S. Reports June 2015 Sales

• BMW brand up 6.5 percent, sets June record
• MINI brand sales up 14.8 percent

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 6.5 percent in June for a total of 32,176 compared to 30,201 vehicles sold in June, 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."

 

In June, notable vehicle sales included the BMW 2 Series which increased 56.9 percent to 1,067 vehicles, the BMW 4 Series which increased 69.4 percent to 6,625 vehicles and the BMW X5 which increased 89.0 percent to 7,508 vehicles.

 

BMW Group Sales

• In total, the BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported June sales of 38,350 vehicles, an increase of 7.8 percent from the 35,577 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago.

MINI Brand Sales

• For June, MINI USA reports 6,174 automobiles sold, an increase of 14.8 percent from the 5,376 sold in the same month a year ago

[smk4565]

2 things shock me.  I would have never thought half the 3-series sales were coupes.  They sold a lot of 4-series.  And what happened to the 5-series and 6-series?  They tanked and the X5 and X6 sales soared.  I can't believe they sold so few cars and so many crossovers. 

[Drew Dowdell]

Oh that's sneaky splitting out 3/4 sales instead of including them together like before.

[balthazar]

Clearly the i3 and i8 are colossal money losers.

[oldshurst442]

2 things shock me.  I would have never thought half the 3-series sales were coupes.  They sold a lot of 4-series.  And what happened to the 5-series and 6-series?  They tanked and the X5 and X6 sales soared.  I can't believe they sold so few cars and so many crossovers. 

What is so surprising about the 5 and 6 Series tanking in sales and both the X5 and X6 soaring in sales?

 

1. The 3 Series and 4 Series are the models that define BMW...Through ultimate driving machine heritage to flagship model as its the M3 and now the M4 are the face of BMW speed.  Plus...the 3 Series remains as the company's bread and butter mainstream offering...

 

2. The current 5 Series is UGLY and its aging...not a very good combo.

 

3. The current 6 Series...its supposed to be a 4 door coupe...yet it lacks the sex appeal and mojo of both of  its German rivals..the CLS and A7...plus its aging...again....not a very good combo.

 

4. This SUV craze has been 30 years in the  making....and BMW is amongst the first to creat this crossover segment thing...especially the sporty SAV crossover thing....with the X5...and then a new niche with the X6...

So...while BMW is continuing refining this SAV niche thing...they are negelcting the Ultimate Driving niche thing...and although the 3/4  Series is not hurting...mainly because the X1 and X3 are butt ugly...the X5/X6 are supermodels...and the marketing is top notch...so....the 5/6 Series is suffering...

 

Let me put it this way...BMW focuses on SAVs...makes a fantastic marketing campaign with the new term SAV...Sports Activity Vehicle....while neglecting Ultimate Driving Machine mantra...sooo...20 years after the intro of X5 and X6....comes wild success with crossovers....at the expense of the the butt ugly and less appealing, crappier handling duo of 5/6 Series...

Its ironic to me that quite possibly....the X5/X6 ride better and handle much nicer that the 5/6 Series....plus newer...

 

 

So....where is the surprise?

And this may be a glimpse of things to come...and not only with BMW...but perhaps with Mercedes Benz too...

Edited July 4, 2015 by oldshurst442

[regfootball]

I live next to an area that lots of wealthy tribal folks.  This is not a political thing, just saying i see a lot of expensive metal around where i drive due to the cash flow and it is interesting to see what those folks drive.

 

Someone had a custom painted BMW X6.  it was painted Barney the dinosaur purple blue in Matte, was quite hideous but i bet it cost an arm and a leg.  Point being, i doubt they bought the hefty X6 due to its driving machine capabilities.  But BMW is a great label.

 

I see lots of X1, X3, X5 and 3 series.  A new 5 series or 7 series is a rare sight anymore.  I would bet the CT6 might sell pretty well out of the gate even against the new 7 series.  Audi large sedans are what i see most often recently in addition to the years of S classe.....

[smk4565]

I don't get why a 5/6 series would have worse ride and handling  than an X5 or X6.  BMW SUVs are build on their car platforms, so you are just adding weight and height.  Saying the X5 handles better than a 535i is like saying the X3 handles better than a 335i.  And as far as styling goes, they basically look the same, the 5-series front end isn't too different from an X5.  I was just surprised that their sedan sales crashed and burned, but the crossovers are on fire.

 

Mercedes is still a car maker, the C-class outsells the GLK by a lot, the E-class outsells the ML.  The ML and GL are not built on a car platform but a crossover platform just for those two vehicles.  The C-class, GLC and 2017 E-class are on the MRA platform.  I think Mercedes still makes cars that sell, BMW has 3/4-series which always sells like hotcakes, but further up the line things don't look so good.

 

The 6-series is way overpriced too.  If costs as much as a 7-series which makes no sense.  If it is supposed to be liek a 5-series coupe, then a 635i should be like $57,000.  They price a 635i above an M4, gee I wonder why the 6-series doesn't sell. 

Edited July 5, 2015 by smk4565

[oldshurst442]

I don't get why a 5/6 series would have worse ride and handling  than an X5 or X6.  BMW SUVs are build on their car platforms, so you are just adding weight and height.  Saying the X5 handles better than a 535i is like saying the X3 handles better than a 335i.  And as far as styling goes, they basically look the same, the 5-series front end isn't too different from an X5.  I was just surprised that their sedan sales crashed and burned, but the crossovers are on fire.

 

Mercedes is still a car maker, the C-class outsells the GLK by a lot, the E-class outsells the ML.  The ML and GL are not built on a car platform but a crossover platform just for those two vehicles.  The C-class, GLC and 2017 E-class are on the MRA platform.  I think Mercedes still makes cars that sell, BMW has 3/4-series which always sells like hotcakes, but further up the line things don't look so good.

 

The 6-series is way overpriced too.  If costs as much as a 7-series which makes no sense.  If it is supposed to be liek a 5-series coupe, then a 635i should be like $57,000.  They price a 635i above an M4, gee I wonder why the 6-series doesn't sell. 

 

Like I said...BMW did this on their own...they put some love into their "SAVs"...

They are letting the 5/6 Series rot on the vine...plus...the 5/6 Series have strayed too far away from what makes a BMW a BMW...

 

Why buy a 5 Series GT when the nicer cooler X5 is hippier....and it probably handles better...and the ride is probably more smoother...

Why buy a regular 5 Series when it aint cool anymore to be seen in a 5 Series...the X6 is hip....Hell...the Russian Mafia swear buy it...

 

 

 

 

 

That represents the last time a 5 Series was cool.

It was a cop car in a very popular video game franchise...

Coincidentally, that was before BMW created the SAV...

 

Remember...not only did BMW dropped the slogan "The Ultimate Driving Machine" but  BMW also crapped out on the driving dynamics of their cars...but...their SAVs on the other hand...well....they do market them as sports activity vehicles that handle the roads better than any other SAVs around...it aint hard to put 2 & 2 together.

 

AND...like I said...the crossover segment is the hottest segment...it has been for the last 20-30 years...and BMW helped create this segment...and BMW nurtured  and cared for their crossovers very carefully...unlike the 5/6 Series...

 

I dont know how else I can explain that to you...

 

As far as M-B goes...I wasnt talking about crossovers outselling their cars...

 

I was talking about both BMW and M-B diluting their image and possibly damaging it...

When you stray too far away from what you marketed yourself and from what made you a success in the first place with sub-par, mediocre and complete opposite products from what made you famous...well...you will start losing market share...in the long run...

 

BMW...well...it wont take long to start losing sales from even the 3/4 Series if the 3/4 Series become any bigger...and become more like a pony car/American family car to its closest competition...Lexus and Cadillac.

 

BMW...famous for small cars that handle like Go-Karts with the punishing ride. The perfect balance of man and machine doing their thing...where the car does exactly what the driver wants it to do...and the car responds to its driver and communicates to its driver every single the inch of that road...

 

Now...does the 5/6 Series fit that bill?

Does the X5/X6 fit that bill?

 

Now that all the car manufacturers are buildiing their own SAVs...Jaguar is on its way shortly...Cadillac is but 1 year away...will the X5/X6 continue to be  the "in" SAV...remember...BMWs are known as "Ultimate Driving Machines"...

 

Cadillacs...well...they are known to be big, brash, and arrogant...and the 'Slade only reinforces that...Cadillac aint tied to any mantra...as long as it either big, brash or arrogant...it could handle the twisties...or it cant...it dont matter...

 

The X5/X6 are still sold as SAVs...not as SUVs...which implies that they are "sportier" than SUVs...Im afraid that BMW has put themselves into a corner...

Even M-B...

The Maybach failed...ultra luxury from M-B failed...when Cadillac gets up and running in that segment...I feel sorry for the S-Class...because...M-B Sprinters and B Class and CLAs are gonna be just as much their downfall as Cadillac re-capturing their place as "The Standard of the World"

 

Its easy for Cadillac to be "The Standard of the World"...Cadillac need not produce blue collar machines to taint snobby appeal...

[Cmicasa the Great]

Why does this matter the 5/6 series sales falling??? BMW absorbed that fall with a shift of customers buying a more depreciated vehicles in the X5 and X6? It is no different than if buyers at Cadillac weren't buying CTSs, but bought Escalades, XTS, and SRXs instead. The only people that should be crying in that situation would be the designers or engineers of the CTS as they might feel their "baby" wasn't getting any love. The Escalade is already profitable as hell, simply because of its sheer numbers being sold via K2xx under the Silvy, Sierra, Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, XL, and Escalade. XTS the same due to Impala, Malibu, LaX, Regal, Insignia. The SRX is profitable as hell.. simply because its 6 years old.. sits on a hybridized platform of Epsilon/Theta, and has sold  well since day one.

 

 

Where BMW is smartest is that it has these alternatives aplenty for shifts in the market with none of their cars, most likely veering to far off course in profitability or initial costs from the next. In other words if a 5 series cost $20K to build the 6 Series only cost $2,000 more. X5 somewhere in the middle. I'm exaggerating but U get my point. 

[Cmicasa the Great]

 

And as far as styling goes, they basically look the same, the 5-series front end isn't too different from an X5.  I was just surprised that their sedan sales crashed and burned, but the crossovers are on fire.

 

 

 

 

Why is this a surprise? U sound like what must go thru Cadillac Brand manager's mind. CUVS ARE THE CRAZE RIGHT NOW!!! In all segments. Build more CUVS, but keep building and establishing (in Cadillac's case) cars when the market shifts again in 5 years

 

 

As for your styling comment. I found this and altho off topic.. At a glance U can only really tell which is which if U look at their hoods and bottom grill adornments

 

Edited July 5, 2015 by Cmicasa the Great

[smk4565]

To Oldshurst442, I guess Chevy should stop producing SUVs and pickups because they are hurting the image of the Corvette.  Crossovers don't hurt BMW's image, it has made them more popular with a larger segment of prospective buyers. And clearly you can't build a sport car and a truck.  How could Mercedes sell a Sprinter at the same dealer as an S-class?  Maybe the same way Chevy sells Corvette Z06s at the same dealership that sells Express work vans.  All these brands build multiple products.

 

The X5/X6 are only one model year newer than the 5-series, as they are built on a 5-series chassis.  And that has how it has been for years, and will continue to be I'd imagine.  And I don't understand how a 5,000 lb SAV out handles a 4,000 lb sedan on the same chassis.  last I checked and M5 can beat an X5 M around the Nurburgring.

[oldshurst442]

To Oldshurst442, I guess Chevy should stop producing SUVs and pickups because they are hurting the image of the Corvette.  Crossovers don't hurt BMW's image, it has made them more popular with a larger segment of prospective buyers. And clearly you can't build a sport car and a truck.  How could Mercedes sell a Sprinter at the same dealer as an S-class?  Maybe the same way Chevy sells Corvette Z06s at the same dealership that sells Express work vans.  All these brands build multiple products.

 

The X5/X6 are only one model year newer than the 5-series, as they are built on a 5-series chassis.  And that has how it has been for years, and will continue to be I'd imagine.  And I don't understand how a 5,000 lb SAV out handles a 4,000 lb sedan on the same chassis.  last I checked and M5 can beat an X5 M around the Nurburgring.

 

Hey...it aint Chevy or GM that tagged the phrase SPORTS ACTIVITY VEHICLE   for SAV rather than SPORTS UTILITY VEHICLE for SUV....that would be BMW...and I see that you completely IGNORED the fact that an E39 5 Series was the last cool ride that BMW made...after that...it is all X5/X6....

 

WHY?

 

Because BMW was the one to DEFINE it as a SPORTS ACTIVITY VEHICLE...

 

And the handling part of the argument....dont blame that on me...blame the BMW marketing people...

 

Its them that came up with the new niche SPORTS ACTIVITY VEHICLE...

 

 

This is what garbage I have to listen to:

 

"The fastest crossover"

 

"You shouldnt be able to do things this like this in a crossover"

 

"This thing feels like a lot closer to Nissan GTR...not quite as fast obviously"

 

 

And this clip was sponsored by BMW....THAT is the message that BMW wants out...and because crossovers are the hot sellers now...for the last 30 years actually...the 5/6 Series suffers...

 

Like I said...the X5/X6 ride and handle better than the 5/6 Series because BMW wants you to believe that...dont hate me...hate BMW for that message...

 

 

PS: Chevy produces REAL BOF SUVs...and markets them as such...

 

Chevy produces FAMILY oriented crossovers and markets them as such...

 

Chevy produces BLUE COLLAR pick-ups and markets them as such...

 

Chevy produces yacht hauling pick-ups and markets them as such...

 

Chevy produces cool Z/71 off roading pickups and markets them as such...

 

Chevy produces reverse gravitational pulling power pickups and markets them as such...

 

What Chevy does not do...is try to make SUVs cool and "in"...and falsely claim them to be SPORTS ACTIVITY VEHICLES...

 

Chevy lets the population themselves deem their SUVs and pickup trucks as cool...no need to "Hollywood"  them up...

 

 

Alan Jackson...chose to drive a Chevy pickup...and used his Chevy in a video...no product placement...

 

 

BMW would KILL to have that kind of cool for their SUVs...sorry...SAVs

 

But they do...the Russian Mafia really loves their X6s...

Edited July 6, 2015 by oldshurst442

[smk4565]

Why does it really matter if it is an activity vehicle or a utility vehicle?  You can do activities in an X5, I wouldn't say it is false advertising.

 

The X5 M and X6 M probably are the fastest best handling crossovers, maybe the Cayenne Turbo S is.  Every company builds crossovers, I think BMW just wants to state how their crossovers have better performance than other people's.  Doesn't mean the X5 is better performing than an M3. But when you have Acura, Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln all selling front drive V6 crossovers, I can see why BMW wants to brag about rwd and 550 hp, because the other guys (other than Mercedes) can't do what they do.

[oldshurst442]

About the 5/6 Series...

 

The BMW marketing machine does not give them love...so people stay away...

The BMW marketing machine compares a 5500 lbs SUV...sorry...SAV...to a Nissan GTR....but slightly slower...

The BMW marketing machine has stopped trying to product place their 5/6 Series cars...

 

They have with Motorcycles...

 

They have with the i8

 

and the crossover market is :hot:

 

So that leaves the 5/6 Series to rot rot rot...

[oldshurst442]

Why does it really matter if it is an activity vehicle or a utility vehicle?  You can do activities in an X5, I wouldn't say it is false advertising.

 

The X5 M and X6 M probably are the fastest best handling crossovers, maybe the Cayenne Turbo S is.  Every company builds crossovers, I think BMW just wants to state how their crossovers have better performance than other people's.  Doesn't mean the X5 is better performing than an M3. But when you have Acura, Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln all selling front drive V6 crossovers, I can see why BMW wants to brag about rwd and 550 hp, because the other guys (other than Mercedes) can't do what they do.

Why?

I dont know....ask BMW what the difference is....why wasnt "utility" good enough?

 

Whatever the answer is...It worked!!!

But to the detriment of the 5/6 Series...those cars aint cool no more...

 

And THAT is what Im saying...and THAT is what YOU refuse to admit.

On the flip side...I aint fooled by that term...trust me...Id rather a M5 over a X6M any day of the week.

But the buying public dont think so...

And THAT is alls Im saying.

And...why are YOU soooooo surprised by that fact that the crossover segment is hot and that SAVs from BMW are hot and the 5/6 Series is not?

 

Image....thats all it is...

BMW has perfected the art of image...

From The Ultimate Driving Machine

To James Bond Z8s and Z3s..but the Z3s fizzled fast...

To SAV X5s and X6s...

 

They had the 5 Series in the bag...but decided to concentrate elsewhere...

Edited July 6, 2015 by oldshurst442

[smk4565]

I was just surprised that the 5-series took a 63% decline, especially in a month when the E-class was also down.  If this was a year from now and the new E-class was out against a dated 5-series I might not be so surprised.  I am not surprised that crossover sales are up, but they sold 7,500 X5's.  That is a huge number, that vehicle averages like 3-4,000 a month.  The X5 outsold the 3-series and nearly tripled the X3.  Pretty good month for BMW when their number 1 seller has a base price of $53k, most probably sold around $60k with options.

 

And I don't even like BMW, I am glad 5/6 series sales are in the tank.  I'd say it is more sales for Mercedes, but BMW still sold 32,000 units.  I'd love to see the 5-series, A6, CTS and GS all selling less than 1,500 a month with the E-class selling 6,000+ a month.  Maybe the new E-class can crush the 5-series the way the S-class crushes the 7-series.

[Drew Dowdell]

I think the long and short of it is that June was a really weird month for most manufacturers.