Ahead of its official financial results for 2011, BMW bosses have revealed that the maker sold 1.67 million cars last year, including a record 285,000 Minis and 3668 Rolls Royce models. It also says that sales in January and February 2012 were the ‘best in BMW’s history’.
Speaking at the Geneva motor show, Dr Klaus Draeger, BMW’s board member for development, told Autocar that the company saw growth in the US and the ‘BRICT’ countries [Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkey], but that sales in southern European countries such as Spain had collapsed.
Dr Draeger also said that he eventually saw annual sales of around 600,000 for the upcoming new front-wheel drive family of BMWs and Minis. ‘Once you sell between 600,000 and one million vehicles annually, based on the same architecture, then you have the best economies of scale. Once you break through the million barrier, the cost savings are not significant.’
Today’s related 1-series and 3-series families - which sell around 600,000 units combined - is an example of BMW’s strategy, he added.
The new front-drive architecture will cover vehicles sized between around 3.8 and 4.4m in length, though Draeger said he ‘couldn’t imagine’ a future Mini model that was much bigger than today’s Countryman. The first front-drive BMW is likely to be a 4m-long competitor for the Audi A1.
BMW’s Oxford plant is currently undergoing significant expansion in preparation for the new platform and the launch of the Mk3 BMW Mini early next year.
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Re: Geneva news: record sales for BMW
Just having a high price does not mean premium - you can put a high price tag on any old 5h1t. someone somewhere will probably buy it! Even better if you can use your premium tag and sell that same stuff to developing economies to max profits before their expectations rise in line with the more developed markets
Not very scientific, but if you look at UK secondhand cars for sale on autotrader -No1 Ford, 2/ Vauxhall, 3/VW, 4/BMW............ I would say it is fairly mainstream as a make in this market.
Re: Geneva news: record sales for BMW
with regards to them becoming more and more common and potentially losing their premium; i doubt it. Their brand is strong and as such will always carry a certain extra value. If you think about strong brands, they are often more expensive than the competition, and yet still manage to outsell them...
Re: Geneva news: record sales for BMW