BMW Drops The Ball In November With A 2.3 Dip In Sales - Mini Goes On The Offense With A 9.5% Increase For Month

"The traffic in our showrooms was very strong in November, especially over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I expect that momentum to continue in December and carry us to an all-time sales record at the end of 2014," said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. "I am especially pleased to see MINI moving forward as availability of the new models improves.  On the BMW side, the new X6 joins the U.S. model lineup this month adding even more breadth to what I regard as the best BMW model range ever."

To see and hear more of Ludwig Willisch's perspective on the November sales and the remaining weeks of 2014, click here. 

BMW Group Sales

The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported November sales of 36,028 vehicles, a decrease of 0.8 percent from the 36,327 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, the BMW Group (BMW and MINI combined) is up 4.8 percent on sales of 347,709 in the first eleven months of 2014 compared to 331,801 in the same period of 2013.  

BMW Pre-Owned Vehicles
In November, sales of BMW used vehicles (including certified pre-owned and pre-owned) decreased slightly, by 3.1 percent, to 15,353 vehicles compared to the 15,838 vehicles sold in November, 2013. Year-to-date, BMW used vehicles (including certified pre-owned and pre-owned) are up 10.0 percent on sales of 179,808 compared to 163,476 sold in the first eleven months of 2013.

MINI Brand Sales

For November, MINI USA reports 5,009 automobiles sold, an increase of 9.5 percent from the 4,575 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, MINI USA reported a sales total of 49,497 automobiles, a decrease of 17.4 percent from the 59,910 automobiles sold in the first eleven months of 2013.

MINI Pre-Owned Vehicles
In November, MINI used automobiles (including MINI NEXT certified pre-owned and pre-owned) reported sales of 1,728 automobiles, a decrease of 10.7 percent from the 1,936 sold in November, 2013. Year-to-date, MINI used automobiles (including MINI NEXT certified pre-owned) reported sales of 22,682 automobiles, an increase of 13.0 percent from the 20,079 automobiles sold in the first eleven months of 2013.

cidflekken - 12/2/2014 3:19:05 PM

+1 Boost

Going to be a tight one through end of year. Mercedes sold 34k units in November to close the gap. The new C, CLA, and GLA are coming on very strong but the 3/4 Series is doing phenomenal as always.

Car4Life - 12/2/2014 3:23:56 PM

+3 Boost

Hmmm Im interested to see the breakdown between 3 and 4 series sales as I'm willing to bet the new C Class is going nearly toe to toe with the 3 series sedan, with an all new C Coupe and rumored cabriolet on the way, Benz may actually have the real 3 series killer on its hands without even claiming to be so.

The i3 sales look promising but with the drop in gas prices I don't see too much more growth and as more images emerge of the new 7 series I wonder how or if that will effect the current given the overall design will be more an evolution than rev.

cidflekken - 12/2/2014 3:57:07 PM

+1 Boost

I agree with you. Once the C-Class becomes a full-array line, it should be much more competitive with the 3/4 Series. Being that Benz sold over 9k units of the new sedan, in 4Matic form only, without a new coupe and without ever having a cabriolet at this price point, it's impressive how it's selling.

vdiv - 12/2/2014 4:43:51 PM

0 Boost

They sold almost as many i8s as Z4s!!!

Not too shabby for a $140k plugin hybrid car! :)

CarCrazedinCali - 12/2/2014 5:07:20 PM

-1 Boost

That new C class was quite impressive but I do still much prefer the sportier dynamics of even a basic BMW... The 4cyl 4matic I drove was okay, not quite as spunky as the 4cyl BMW imo. I want spunk! Competition is great for the market though, so keep it up MB and keep BMW on their toes.

cidflekken - 12/2/2014 6:27:22 PM

+3 Boost

A large part of that "spunkiness" is BMW's superior transmission. Across the board, Mercedes still lags behind BMW and Audi with their transmissions. Once they can work out the bugs, things will be different. At the same time, the C leans towards luxury with sport added in. That's always been the case and they just took that luxury quotient up a few notches with the new C.

runninglogan1 - 12/2/2014 9:32:42 PM

+1 Boost

Audi and BMW use the same ZF sourced transmissions while MB makes their own boxes. Perhaps MB's new 9-speed unit will be as smooth and refined as ZF's.

GermanNut - 12/3/2014 11:50:42 AM

0 Boost

Watch BMW and Mercedes-Benz wait to report their sales numbers for December and whoever reports second will "massage" the numbers in order to take the U.S. sales crown or make sure the gap between itself and the first place finisher will be very minimal. BMW always has this mysteriously huge sales increase in the month of December and I'll bet 2014 won't be any different.

GermanNut - 12/3/2014 11:50:42 AM

0 Boost

Watch BMW and Mercedes-Benz wait to report their sales numbers for December and whoever reports second will "massage" the numbers in order to take the U.S. sales crown or make sure the gap between itself and the first place finisher will be very minimal. BMW always has this mysteriously huge sales increase in the month of December and I'll bet 2014 won't be any different.

iamdabest1 - 12/4/2014 8:30:54 AM

+1 Boost

im surprised the 1/2 series went down in sales... whats up with that ? maybe they really dont have enough inventory because the 2 is arguably the best car they currently have ( besides the awkward looks )

cidflekken - 12/4/2014 12:59:24 PM

+3 Boost

In speaking with the two BMW dealerships that I've dealt with in the past months, there is sparce inventory on the 2 and when they do get one in, it's usually sold within 24 hours. I don't think BMW expected the 2 to be a volume player in the first place, much like the CLA for Mercedes wasnt' expected to do so well. They are both very niche products so it makes sense.