BMW Group has reported its three-quarter year results, through September 2023, with global sales jumping 5.1 per cent over last year’s effort. It remains as the best-selling premium vehicle maker in the world.
The group, which includes MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW motorcycles, shifted 1,836,563 vehicles in the first nine months of this year. It was helped by a strong third quarter, with 621,699 sales in the three-month period alone. That’s up 5.8 per cent on the same quarter last year.
As a result, BMW Group is reporting an 11.9 per cent increase in earnings before tax (EBT) across the nine-month period, and up 10.6 per cent for the third quarter specifically. Group revenues stand at 112,530 euros for the nine months (up 9.2 per cent). Oliver Zipse, BMW board chairman, said:
“Our third quarter showed once again that strong products generate strong demand – across all drive technologies. This puts us right on track to meet the higher targets we set ourselves in August.”
Interestingly, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 13.4 per cent of all BMW Group sales over the nine-month period. And the trajectory looks to include a higher concentration going forward, with the third quarter alone seeing a 15.1 per cent share.
In terms of regions, the Americas and Europe reported strong demand, with Asia remaining steady from last year. During the third quarter, Europe contributed 221,735 sales (up 12.9 per cent), while the USA added 92,218 units (up 7.7 per cent). Sales in China dropped 1.8 per cent to 210,659 units.
BMW brand sales hit 549,941 units in the third quarter, which is up 6.2 per cent. Compared with its main rival, Mercedes-Benz, it sold 510,600 units in the third quarter (down 4 per cent). Mercedes says some of the reason for the downturn is due to the model changeover of the E-Class and GLC.
Across the first nine months of this year BMW brand sales reached 1,621,267 units, and that’s up 5.7 per cent on the same period last year. Again, that’s higher than its Stuttgart-based competitor, which reported 1,529,800 sales (up 2 per cent). This means BMW remains as the best-selling premium auto brand in the world.
On local shores here in Australia, BMW is the best-selling premium brand of the German top three, according to VFACTS new vehicle registration figures. Across the nine-month period BMW shifted 19,040 vehicles (up 4.7 per cent), while Mercedes-Benz delivered 18,490 vehicles (down 14.2 per cent).
Tesla has been the best-seller though in terms of outright premium sales in Australia, with 37,997 units (up 171 per cent). Audi delivered 13,613 units (up 29.3 per cent) and Lexus sold 11,483 units (up 114.3 per cent) across the nine-month period.
In terms of global sales, Tesla delivered 1,324,074 units across the first nine months of this year (up 46 per cent), and 435,059 units in the third quarter specifically (up 27 per cent).