BMW Stops The Blood Letting With A 0.3% Sales Gain In February

Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 0.3 percent in February for a total of 22,558 compared to 22,498 vehicles sold in February, 2016. Year-to-date, the BMW brand is up 0.2 percent in the U.S. on sales of 40,667 vehicles compared to 40,580 sold in the first two months of 2016.

“March is the real beginning of the automotive selling season in the U.S. and BMW is well positioned for success with the right mix of vehicles and with the launch of the all-new 5 Series now underway,” said Ludwig Willisch, Head of BMW Group Region Americas. “The trend towards Sports Activity Vehicles is strong but so is demand for the new 5 Series, especially the new M550 which goes on sale in the Spring along with the hybrid-electric 530e.”

Notable vehicle sales in February include the new BMW 5 Series with 2,731 cars, the BMW X1 which increased to 2,050 vehicles, and the BMW X3 which increased to 4,020 vehicles.

BMW Group Sales

In total, the BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported February sales of 24,712 vehicles, a decrease of 2.5 percent from the 25,337 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, BMW Group sales are down 1.6 percent on sales of 45,931 vehicles in the first two months of 2017 compared to 46,657 in the same period in 2016.

MINI Brand Sales

For February, MINI USA reported 2,154 automobiles sold, a decrease of 24.1 percent from the 2,839 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, MINI USA reported a total of 5,264 automobiles sold, a decrease of 13.4 percent from 6,077 automobiles sold in the first two months of 2016.

BMW Pre-Owned Vehicles
• February 2017 sales of BMW Certified Pre-Owned set a February record with 11,260 vehicles, an increase of 30.2 percent from February 2016.
• Total BMW Pre-Owned sales also set a February record with 20,256 vehicles, an increase of 36.1 percent from February 2016.
• Total BMW Pre-Owned cars sold year-to-date were 38,475, a 34.4 percent increase from the first two months of 2016.

MINI Pre-Owned Vehicles
• In February, MINI Certified Pre-Owned sold 873 vehicles, a decrease of 16.5 percent from February 2016.
• Total MINI Pre-Owned sales set a February record with 2,413 vehicles in February 2017, an increase of 8.2 percent from February 2016.
• Total MINI Pre-Owned sales year-to-date were 4,600, a 12.6 percent increase from the first two months of 2016.
 

1lostVW - 3/1/2017 6:14:50 PM

+3 Boost

BMW did not actually sell the number of units they reported, they got the dealers caught up in yet another punching scheme. This time BMW worked on a plan that rolled a significant portion of the nations dealer "loaner" fleet out of service to be replaced with new units that were punched as retail deliveries. BMW sales were down, the punch count was up, more games to lead the outside world to believe the myth that BMW is selling more units than they really are.

MDarringer - 3/2/2017 8:37:11 AM

0 Boost

That is 100% true. Move the loaners to the CPO section of the lot. Get new loaners.

Maserati was even more shady. They moved new cars to loaners and then once "sales" had been tallied they "backed out" the sales.

"Backed out" sales happen sometimes--not often--when a customer agrees to a sale and then backs out and the dealer magically makes the car new again by ripping up the paper work and not forwarding anything to the DMV.

cidflekken - 3/2/2017 6:18:09 PM

+2 Boost

But how is this different than any other make? I live a mile from all the luxury brands (Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, Ferrari, Lambo, Bentley, Rolls, Maserati) and I see these loaners all the time. The loaner cars (at least from my local dealerships) are never an older version, including brand new redesigns and facelifts. Sometimes as I'm seeing updates on new designs or facelifts online, I already see them as dealer loaner cars on the road almost immediately afterwards.

2ndbimmer - 3/4/2017 9:25:24 AM

+1 Boost

And other brands didn't?

GermanNut - 3/1/2017 10:16:57 PM

0 Boost

BMW once again trails Mercedes-Benz and Audi by a huge margin in terms of sales growth in percentage terms.

BMW should be worried given this trend of trailing its competitors by wide margins has continued for more than a year.

malba2367 - 3/2/2017 12:10:53 PM

+1 Boost

BMW is going to continue having to resort to these games and massive lease subsidies until they can field competitive products. MB/Audi have equaled and maybe even surpassed BMW's "secret sauce" handling/ride quality balance and their cars have better styling and better interior quality.

nguyenvuminh - 3/2/2017 12:19:46 PM

+2 Boost

The patient is in stabilizing condition now.