The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported February sales of 15,805 vehicles, a decrease of 34.7 percent over the 24,190 vehicles sold in the same month of 2008. The BMW Group also reported a year-to-date sales volume of 30,119 vehicles, down 26.8 percent, compared to 41,125 vehicles in the same period of 2008.
BMW Brand Sales
Sales of BMW brand vehicles decreased 37.5 percent in February for a total of 12,979 compared to 20,775 reported in the same month a year ago. BMW sales have been affected by the model build out of the 7 Series (new model launches this month) and the build out of the Z4 (new model launches in May). Year-to-date BMW brand sales were down 28.5 percent, to 25,211 vehicles compared to 35,250 vehicles sold in the same period a year ago.
"February was another downer for the whole market even though it was filled with compelling buys," said Jim O'Donnell, President of BMW of North America, LLC. "While we assume our sales will be affected by the overall economic environment like others, we're now entering a period of a large number of returning lease customers and it's our challenge and opportunity to put them in a new BMW in the coming months and continue to increase our share of the premium market."
BMW Automobile Sales
BMW's automobile sales are down 32.1 percent in February to 10,776 versus 15,869 in the same month of 2008. Year-to-date sales also decreased 27.7 percent, to 19,473 automobiles compared to 26,922 in the first two months 2008.
BMW Sports Activity Vehicle Sales
Sales of BMW Sports Activity Vehicles decreased 55.1 percent in February to 2,203 vehicles over the 4,906 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, sales of BMW Sports Activity Vehicles were down 31.1 percent, to 5,738 vehicles compared to 8,328 sold in the same period a year ago.
MINI Brand Sales
MINI USA reported sales of 2,826 automobiles, down 17.2 percent from the 3,415 cars sold in February 2008. The drop from last February was driven mainly by the build out phase of the MINI Convertible. The new model will go on sale in the US at the end of March. Year-to-date, the division reported sales of 4,908 automobiles, a decrease of 16.5 percent, compared to the 5,875 cars reported in the first two months of 2008.
"The economy slowed so much in December and January that MINI felt the pain," said Jim McDowell, Vice-President of MINI USA. "In February however, sales were up 36 percent compared to January '09 and we're now seeing some who had been on the sidelines putting their feet back in the water shopping for cars as evidenced by increasing website traffic and online configurations being sent to dealers."
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