The BMW Group has announced it delivered a record number of vehicles to customers during the first three months of 2021 as the company aims to continue growing its brands further.
The Group, which includes BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, sold 636,606 new cars in the first quarter of this year – its best figure yet during the first quarter of a year. Combined, the brands increased registrations by 33.5 per cent compared to a pandemic-stricken 2020.
It was BMW itself that accounted for the largest chunk of sales, with 560,543 new cars being delivered globally in this period. The firm said the continued rise in popularity of its ‘X’ SUVs was a big factor, as were increasing sales of its popular 3 Series and 5 Series.
Mini also sold 74,683 cars during the period, with its Countryman SUV increasing sales by 36 per cent, while luxury firm Rolls-Royce set its best figure ever during the first quarter, with 1,380 new models being delivered – all of which are produced at its West Sussex factory.
Asia, and in particular China, was a key driver behind the sharp rise in deliveries, with sales up 76.4 per cent during the first three months of 2021. With 286,968 new BMW Group models being sold here, it made Asia the most popular region.
With an ever-increasing range of electrified cars from BMW and Renault, it’s no surprise that plug-in hybrid and EVs continued to soar. In total 70,207 electrified models were sold – a jump of 129.8 per cent compared to the same time in 2021.
Pieter Nota, BMW AG board member responsible for customer, brands and sales, said: “We continued our growth momentum in the first quarter of this year, selling more vehicles than ever before in this period. This all-time high in sales underlines our ambitious growth targets for the year.
“Our sales performance was boosted by strong demand for our electrified vehicles, in particular. In the past three months, we doubled our global sales of electrified vehicles compared to the same period last year. This puts us on track to deliver more than 100,000 fully-electric vehicles this year, with at least a million electrified vehicles on the roads in total by the end of this year.”
Enquire on a new BMW
