No Clunker Traffic For BMW As Sales Drop 24.5% In August - Mini Sales Drop 6.5%

With 24,343 units (-21.3 percent), the BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported its best sales month so far this year. The BMW Group also reported a year-to-date sales volume of 160,044 vehicles, down 26.5 percent, compared to 217,821 vehicles sold in the first eight months of last year.

BMW Brand Sales
The BMW brand also had its best month this year with a total of 19,232 units (-24.5 percent). Year-to-date, BMW brand sales were down 28.6 percent to 129,176 vehicles compared to 180,889 vehicles sold in the same period of 2008.

“We are happy with BMW sales this month because it shows a strengthening of the premium market,” said Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW of North America, LLC. “On the other hand, we always knew this month would be difficult in comparison to August 2008, because it was one of our strongest months on record.”

BMW Certified Pre-Owned (CPO)
Sales of BMW’s Certified Pre-Owned vehicles were slightly down 1.2 percent, to 9,342 CPO vehicles versus 9,453 vehicles reported in August a year ago. Year-to-date, CPO sales were up 10.1 percent, to 76,482 over the 69,437 reported in the same period of 2008.

MINI Brand Sales
MINI USA reported sales of 5,111 automobiles (-6.5 percent) making August MINI’s fifth best month in its U.S. history dating back to 2002. Year-to-date, MINI USA also reported sales of 30,868 automobiles, a decrease of 16.4 percent, compared to the 36,932 cars reported in the first eight months of 2008.

“Cash for Clunkers brought some new, more pragmatic customers to MINI who would probably not have considered the brand without the program,” said Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA. “This is good and shows that for MINI, Cash for Clunkers was not just a ‘pull ahead’ of sales.”


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GermanNut - 9/1/2009 2:24:17 PM

-3 Boost

Agent 009, can you check why all my articles (more than 5) have NOT been posted on Autospies. The Audi S4 vs. BMW 335i vs. Mitsubishi Evo X EVO article was fantastic. As was the Audi Q5 vs. Volvo XC60 article from Wall Street Journal. Lastly, you failed to post the article I submitted from the Wall Street Journal about China's huge importance for the future of Daimler.

Did I just call you out on the Audi S5 Sportback so you and all your "spy" colleagues feel like little monkeys who won't post my articles now because I publicize how you steal user submitted articles.

Anyway, this BMW news is LOL worthy. Jim O'Donnell is cheering about BMW's sorry 24.5% collapse because August of 2008 was such a strong month for BMW. News to Jim O'Donnell there is something WRONG if you drop 24.5% Year-on-Year and your two closest rivals drop only 7.5% YoY (Mercedes-Benz USA) and probably 2-3% YoY for Audi of America.

GermanNut - 9/1/2009 8:43:38 PM

-1 Boost

JRobUSA maybe you didn't read this:

BMW sells more cars than Audi so therefore each fewer car sold accounts for a smaller percentage of BMW's total sales. Therefore BMW should be experiencing a far smaller percentage decline than Audi both in the U.S. and globally, but it isn't. BMW is experiencing far greater declines than Audi. In China, the world's largest auto market by annual sales, Audi is far and away the market leader.

GermanNut - 9/1/2009 3:14:59 PM

-1 Boost

Check that: Audi increased sales by 26% in August. BMW is sh*tting themselves right now....

M53R - 9/1/2009 3:39:08 PM

+2 Boost

Oh yeah they must be. I mean Audi is now selling 18,000 cars this month while BMW just barely beat them. Oh wow.

JRobUSC - 9/1/2009 7:17:52 PM

+3 Boost

not to rain on your parade but you realize how small of a gain that 26% is that Audi had, right? Let's apply something I like to call "perspective" to the figures, which frankly most of the ridiculous fanboys on here refuse to do. Audi went from what, 6500 units to 8100 units or something? A growth of 26% when you're starting with a very small number is still a very small number. That margin would only be 7% on BMW's figures. So kudos to Audi, but it's not nearly the big deal you're purporting it to be.

validus00 - 9/1/2009 3:18:58 PM

+4 Boost

dude don't cry man. you're taking this posting thing too seriously.

last time i checked, audi is still trailing behind bmw and mb in global sales. and don't tell me it's because of supply shortage.

godos to audi for selling rebadged veedubs, recycling platforms, exterior designs, and same ol' engines.

VISO - 9/1/2009 4:22:25 PM

-6 Boost

Actually, Audi outsells BMW in China and Europe. So calm down Invalidity00 along with your stupid comments about rebadging. Your type of bashing is old already. Try something new for a change with actual facts and not BS fanboy ramblings. Audi global sales are trending upwards while BMW and MB suffer negative growth and revenue. It is only a matter of time when Audi beats them easily in total sales. The next A8 will rip apart your precious little 7-Series and send it back to where it belongs - at the back of the pack.

BMW4me4ever - 9/1/2009 4:57:31 PM

+1 Boost

viso ... what? yeah right the Audi A8 is ripping what, all 109 cars in the US. Why even bother? Now that the cash 4 clunkers program has ended, I highly doubt the Audi sales in September will equate to a 26% increase, even thought the Q5 accounts for 20% of the sales in the US.

BMW has the X1 coming and the AWD 7-series. Good news is that the CPO BMW's are still outselling Audi New & pre-owned compbined.

validus00 - 9/1/2009 5:30:54 PM

+1 Boost

invalidity00? i see what you did there. clever monkey.

isn't viso the name of a brand of beverage in portland? why did you take the name of something that tastes like horse urine? i regrettably had the privilege of trying it out when i was there...

back to the subject. audi's been trailing everyone else in sales for decades. "easy" would not be the word i'd describe audi's feeble attempts at playing catch-up for the past half a century. don't trivialize a trillion dollar industry with a wrong word smart guy.

you should certainly hope that the next a8 would not be based off of any vw again. phaeton was certainly the biggest flap to ever happen to vw. it was only like... the biggest joke ever. besides, when was the last time you've seen a bmw at the back of the pack ever? industry benchmark leaders tend to stay.

validus00 - 9/2/2009 4:05:39 PM

+1 Boost

you're suggesting that audi is about to overtake bmw in the US?

what you're suggesting is that these monthly sale % changes show the overall progress of audi in comparison with bmw, that audi is gaining on bmw slowly but certainly.

at the same time, you're also suggesting that the volumes between the two carmakers are so different in the US that we shouldn't look at specific numbers and make comparisons in various segments.

a little contradictory, don't you think?

also, audi and bmw have nearly identical jd power ratings in every category. i doubt audi will be able to overtake bmw via lexus' route.

sdcarguy - 9/1/2009 3:27:37 PM

+7 Boost

People buying beemers are usually trading in lease returns or cars not considered clunkers. Still, Mini should have done better.

GermanNut - 9/1/2009 5:17:27 PM

0 Boost

BMW4me4ever and Validus yes, BMW has the X1 coming and AWD 7-series coming. Audi also has the Q3 and A2 (Mini competitor) and all-new 2010 Audi A8 coming at Detroit.

BMW's U.S. sales are down 28.5% and Audi's are down 10.2%. Globally Audi is down something like 8.8% but BMW is down 19%. BMW is hugely reliant on the beaten up U.S. market for its overall global sales which can't be a good thing. BMW sells more cars than Audi so therefore each fewer car sold accounts for a smaller percentage of BMW's total sales. Therefore BMW should be experiencing a far smaller percentage decline than Audi both in the U.S. and globally, but it isn't. BMW is experiencing far greater declines than Audi. In China, the world's largest auto market by annual sales, Audi is far and away the market leader.

Audi has higher profit margins than BMW thanks to sharing parts/platforms/technologies with VW, higher profits than BMW so far($1.2+ billion for Audi) versus (-$33 million for BMW). Audi has posted two consecutive months of global sales increases. Meanwhile, the best global sales month BMW has managed is a 13% sales decline.

Clearly BMW should be worried.

thetruth01 - 9/1/2009 8:21:07 PM

+1 Boost

I love reading Audi fans squabbling with BMW fans. It keeps people from bringing up the L word. (Of course, 009 can't bring up the L word, because it is once again beating BMW, despite all of his L word sky is falling rants over the past 2 years.)

enthusiastx11 - 9/1/2009 11:28:40 PM

+1 Boost

you're right again huu.

all those people driving 7-series, M cars, 6-series, 3-series, etc. are totally broke. they have no money. makes perfect sense.

it's not like you need an income to buy or lease a $50k car or a $100k car. right?

validus00 - 9/2/2009 3:38:59 PM

+1 Boost

actually bmw has better residual value rating than some of its competitors including mb and porsche.

if you can buy an entry-level luxury sedan for less than an honda odyssey, you're paying too much for a mini-van buddy.

GermanNut - 9/2/2009 8:19:58 AM

+3 Boost

When half the cars you sell worldwide are stripper 328i's...no, you don't need income and you are totally broke. Hence the BMW stereotype!

All those people driving 7-series, 6-series, and M-cars are such a tiny fraction of the entire BMW customer base.

validus00 - 9/2/2009 2:57:27 PM

0 Boost

it's pretty amazing how you pull numbers out of thin air and make up statements that aren't even remotely true.

if we look at some actual numbers, we'll see that..

in august 2009 - audi sold 109 a8 and 8057 total number of cars, or 1.4% of the cars.
this compared to bmw - bmw sold 862 7-series and 19232 total number of cars, or 4.5% of the cars!

let's compare it to last year august 2008
audi sold 274 a8 and 6406 total number of cars or 4.3%
bmw sold 1201 7-series and 25462 total number of cars or 4.7%

which basically shows that you're just making up crap. more people actually choose a 7-series when buying a new bmw in comparison to people choosing a8 when buying a new audi.

looking at other numbers, it also looks like audi buyers can't afford themselves nicer audi's, because 58% of total audi's sold in august 2009 are a4's and a5's, compared to 51% of total bmw's sold in august 2009 being 3-series.

that just shows that audi buyers has shallow pockets. lol

validus00 - 9/2/2009 3:50:37 PM

+1 Boost

these percentages are skewed? not really. they're as skewed as say people comparing august 2009 sales, bmw's -24.5% and audi's +26%, both brands at different volumes.

and yes, i've taken account the flavors by looking at direct competitors between the two brands.

and yes, i'm talking US only, because people brought up leasing as a factor of purchase, which is a US phenomenon.

GermanNut - 9/2/2009 10:30:59 PM

0 Boost

Let's talk globally.

Audi's sales are down 8 something percent whereas BMW's are down 19%. Audi has seen two straight months of global sales growth whereas BMW is yet to see a month with better than a 12% global sales decline. Audi posted a 4.1% sales increase last year vs. BMW's 5.6% global sales drop. BMW's profitability fell 90% to $300 million whereas Audi's profitability increased 40% to $2 billion. Audi has already seen over a $1 billion profit through Q2 of this year whereas BMW has posted a $33 million loss.

validus00 - 9/3/2009 2:06:35 PM

+1 Boost

kelly blue book being one of the sources. bmw has one of the highest residual value ratings from kbb for the past couple of years actually. the only problem is that even kbb gets their analysis wrong sometimes, which is one of the reasons why state farm doesn't use kbb for appraisal in accident payouts. so it doesn't surprise me that bmw got it wrong one time.

good for audi for lowering development costs in recycling platforms and selling chinese made audi to undercut their competitors.

lexus is250 is cheaper than 3-series. no wonder i see so many sorority girls driving them. so i guess you're right - a sorority girl doesn't need a job to rent a is250; they just need to get their mommies and daddies to pay their monthlies for them! heh.