Following its seventh consecutive year of record sales, the world’s number one manufacturer of premium vehicles started 2018 with another record: the BMW Group has never sold so many cars in January as in this year. A total of 169,538 customers took delivery of a BMW, MINI or Rolls-Royce premium vehicle, an increase of 3.8% on the same month last year.
Having delivered well over 100,000 electrified vehicles in 2017, the BMW Group is looking to build further on that success and is targeting 140,000 electrified vehicles this year, thereby maintaining its leading position in the premium battery-electric/plug-in hybrid segment. With sales of BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric vehicles increasing by 36.7% compared to January last year, things are well on track to achieve that target. Worldwide, a total of 7,155 customers took delivery of a premium BMW Group electrified vehicle in January. More than a quarter of all BMW and MINI vehicles sold in Scandinavia were electrified. Other very strong markets include Great Britain/Ireland, where electrified vehicles accounted for 11.1% of total BMW and MINI sales and the USA, where the proportion of electrified sales was 5.2%.
Global BMW brand sales increased by 3.4% in the first month of 2018, with a total of 148,400 vehicles delivered to customers worldwide. A variety of different models across the portfolio contributed to this new all-time best January. The new BMW 5 Series sedan was once again a strong growth driver, with global sales up 39.6%. The success of the BMW 1 Series sedan in China helped overall global BMW 1 Series sales increase by 26.4% while the BMW X1 +10.6% and the BMW X6 +5.8% were the main growth drivers in the BMW X family, as production of the new BMW X3 ramps up through the second half of the year.
The MINI brand achieved global sales growth of 7.0%, with the delivery of 20,929 vehicles to customers in January. The strongest growth driver was the MINI Countryman, which doubled its sales compared to January last year. A total of 6,022 customers took delivery of this model in the month, with one out of seven choosing the plug-in hybrid version of the car.
After celebrating a new record sales year in 2017, BMW Motorrad has achieved a very successful start to the new year. A total of 8,455 BMW Motorrad customers took delivery of a new motorcycle or maxi-scooter in January, an increase of 12.7% compared to the same month last year.
The BMW Group achieved sales growth in all three major sales regions in January, in line with its long-term policy of balanced sales around the world.
BMW Group sales in January 2018 at a glance:
| In January 2018 | Compared with previous year % | |
| BMW Group Automobiles | 169,538 | +3.8 |
| BMW | 148,400 | +3.4 |
| MINI | 20,929 | +7.0 |
| BMW Group electrified | 7,155 | +36.7 |
| BMW Motorrad | 8,455 | +12.7 |