MINI Worldwide Sales Up 39% In March 2015
When MINI USA [performs well](https://www.motoringfile.com/2015/04/02/mini-usa-sales-up-59-in-march-2015/), worldwide sales tend to follow. In fact, the BMW Group achieved its best month of March ever with an 8.1% increase in sales compare to the same month last year. MINI is one of the factor of this impressive performance, with 38.9% sales increase. While BMW doesn’t provide the breakdown of sales by model, BMW Group Board Member Peter Schwarzenbauer explains what drove MINI sales this March.
>Sales of MINI brand vehicles saw a significant increase compared to March last year, when sales were affected by the core model changeover. “MINI has achieved its best ever first quarter,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management BMW AG, MINI, BMW Motorrad, Rolls-Royce. “Our new 3 and 5 door models are now fully available and we’re seeing just how popular they are in the markets.” In March 2015, MINI deliveries rose 38.9% to total 36,635 with sales in the first three months of the year climbing to 74,312, an increase of 28.4% on the same period last year. The new generation 3 door MINI was delivered to a total of 13,890 customers in March, up 79.7% on the same month last year, while monthly sales of the brand new 5 door MINI totaled 9,688.
**Official Release:** Deliveries of BMW Group vehicles in March reached a new high contributing to the company’s best ever first quarter sales figures. Around the world, a total of 232,556 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were sold in March, up 9.2% on the previous year. In the first three months of 2015, the BMW Group achieved a sales increase of 8.1% with 526,669 vehicles delivered to customers.
“This has been our strongest ever first quarter and we have achieved sales growth in all regions globally” commented Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing BMW. “It’s particularly pleasing to see the recovery in Europe continuing while sales in North America remain strong. With the momentum provided by the range of new products we are bringing out this year, I am confident we will achieve our target of delivering more vehicles to customers this year than ever before,” Robertson added.
A total of 195,593 BMW brand vehicles were delivered to customers in March, a new high for the month (+5.1%). It’s also been the best ever first quarter for the brand with a total of 451,576 vehicles sold around the world, an increase of 5.4% on the same period last year. The new BMW 2 Series continues to be in high demand with a total of 14,696 sold in March. Around two thirds of those sales were achieved by the new 2 Series Active Tourer, with a total of 9,790 units delivered to customers. Sales of the BMW 4 Series remained strong with 18,373 delivered in March. The ever-popular BMW 5 Series maintained its strong sales figures with a total of 36,028 sold in March, an increase of 0.3%. Meanwhile the great sales success of the segment-founding BMW X family continues with deliveries of the third-generation BMW X5 up 12.1% to 15,289, while sales of the BMW X6 climbed 5.4% to total 3,880.
Over 2,600 innovative electric BMW i vehicles were sold in March. Sales of the BMW i3 were higher than in any previous month, with a total of 2,067 delivered to customers, and demand for the BMW i8 – the newly crowned World Green Car of the Year – remains very strong.
Sales of MINI brand vehicles saw a significant increase compared to March last year, when sales were affected by the core model changeover. “MINI has achieved its best ever first quarter,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management BMW AG, MINI, BMW Motorrad, Rolls-Royce. “Our new 3 and 5 door models are now fully available and we’re seeing just how popular they are in the markets.” In March 2015, MINI deliveries rose 38.9% to total 36,635 with sales in the first three months of the year climbing to 74,312, an increase of 28.4% on the same period last year. The new generation 3 door MINI was delivered to a total of 13,890 customers in March, up 79.7% on the same month last year, while monthly sales of the brand new 5 door MINI totalled 9,688.
Compared to the same quarter last year, which was particularly strong for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars due to the popularity of the newly introduced Wraith model, sales figures for the Goodwood-based brand in the first three months of 2015 were modest but in line with expectations and within the company’s planning cycle. Difficult luxury market conditions in China added to first quarter challenges. Rolls-Royce has delivered 781 cars to customers so far this year (-12.9%).
In line with the corporate strategy of globally balanced growth, all BMW Group sales regions saw customer deliveries increase both in March and in the first quarter.
In Europe, deliveries of BMW and MINI models rose by 11.8% in March, with 114,290 vehicles sold. The first quarter also saw a solid increase in sales with deliveries up 9.6% to 234,658. Almost all European markets increased sales year-on-year with March once again seeing double-digit growth in many countries. Deliveries of BMW and MINI models in Great Britain – the BMW Group’s fourth biggest market – totalled 37,872, a significant 19.9% increase on the same month last year. Similarly strong growth of 20.0% was achieved in France, where 8,056 MINI and BMW vehicles were delivered to customers.
The strong start to the year seen in the Americas continued in March with BMW and MINI sales increasing by 9.8% to total 47,362. The first quarter was strong with 109,510 vehicles delivered in total, an increase of 9.9% compared with the same period last year. North America continues to be the region’s biggest growth driver with March sales of BMW and MINI vehicles totalling 40,139 in the USA (+12.2%) and deliveries in Canada increasing by 2.2% to total 3,125.
Asia also saw steady growth in March with deliveries in the region totalling 64,988, an increase of 4.8% compared with the same month last year. Sales also rose in the first quarter as a whole with 166,330 BMW and MINI vehicles delivered to customers, up 5.2% on the same period in 2014. In March, sales in Mainland China grew by 8.1% to total 43,824, while South Korea saw deliveries rise by 17.6% to 4,340.
BMW Motorrad delivered 15,912 motorcycles and maxi-scooters to customers in March, an increase of 4.8% on the same month last year. In the first quarter, worldwide sales increased by 9.2% to total 31,370 units.
<p>This the beginning of their long term plan being realized on the grand stage. With the platform and engine sharing which ultimately brings more favorable economies of scale MINI will be able to invest in some more fun products to bring to market without being penalized due to low volume since the core models will make up for the lower volume niche models like the Roadster concept. Keep up the great work MINI!</p>
<p>No matter what enthusiasts might say, it appears as though the strategy of making larger and larger MINIs is working for them. The numbers don’t lie.</p>
<p>Time will tell if that will work long term. As MINIs become larger and more mainstream will they lose their appeal as a boutique brand?</p>
<p>“No matter what enthusiasts might say…the numbers don’t lie”</p>
<p>Better take a second look at the game tape.</p>
<p>In the US, the only model with unit sales above 2013 or 2014 is the new 4/5-Door. All other model unit sales are below those numbers. As we know, the 4/5-Door didn’t exist prior to 2015.</p>
<p>I agree with ulrichd. Time will ultimately tell if MINI’s strategy is working, but it’s been a fairly brutal year-plus.</p>
<p>MINI is now a well established global product, and last year total MINI sales in the US represented ‘only’ 18.5% of total worldwide sales.</p>
<p>F55 and F56 are a huge hit in the global market place, and with the addition of F54 Clubman on sale from October, F60 Countryman in late 2016, and F58 Traveller looking ever more likely by late 2017, record breaking MINI worldwide sales figures are here to stay.</p>
<p>The new Countryman is most likely scheduled for October 2017.</p>
<p>Not all MINI variants run the full seven years, R58/59 being prime examples. In any event, R60 is already suffering from ‘obsolescence’, and sales will start to drop quite noticeably this year, especially so after the F54 goes on sale this October. Both R60/R61 are built in Graz on the same production line, and sales of R61 have all but collapsed. The all new X1, which shares its underpinnings with F60, goes on sale later this year.</p>
<p>We can all agree that the R58/59 are exceptions to the rule. In the long term though, I wonder if the seven-year cycle rule is something BMW can keep following.</p>
<p>Yes, almost exceptions to the rule, but most certainly so too will be R61. The Paceman went on sale in early 2013, so if the seven year cycle rule were to apply, production would continue until early 2020, but that is never going to happen. At best, R61 will cease production sometime next year, which means it will have been in production for a mere three and a half years. Similarly, production of the ‘Twins’ has now ceased, resulting in R58/R59 lasting for only four and three years respectively.</p>
<p>The problem for R58/R59/R61 is that they arrived late in the R-series life cycle. As soon as F56 was launched, all the remaining R-series variants became technologically obsolete overnight, and it is inevitable that interest in the remaining variants will steadily fall away. The SUV segment is the most profitable, and with competition from other car makers hotting up, MINI cannot allow the Countryman to fall behind. You may be assured that F60 will enter production next year, and not a moment too soon!</p>
<p>I hate these articles because they largely ditch perspective and focus instead on a misleadingly large % figure. There might be token mention that the previous year’s sales were hampered by the new model rollout (sometimes), but little more.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m not just here to complain… here are worldwide MINI sales figures for the month of March with that better perspective.</p>
<p>March 2012 – 32,422
March 2013 – 31,763
March 2014 – 26,382
March 2015 – 36,635</p>
<p>So, while March 2015 was a 38.9% increase over March 2014, it was only a 15.3% increase over March 2013 (+7.4% yearly avg), and a 13.0% increase over March 2012 (+4.2% yearly avg).</p>
<p>+7.4% per yr … +4.2% per yr … Still decent numbers and in the right direction, just with a little less of the “+39% OMG!!” sensationalism.</p>
<p>Our goal has never been to mislead our readers. When sales are not good, we clearly indicate it. Additionally, we’ve mentioned many times in the past that these numbers must be assessed with caution compare to previous years. We decided not do it every time because going back two or three years stops making sense when the lineup changes so much and given the differences in context. In any case, we should all bear in mind that a double digit growth is really good compare to the entire space.</p>
<p>Alex, I respectfully disagree.</p>
<p>As I point out below, sales in the States are still below 2013 or 2014 for all models, except the new-to-2015 4/5-Door.</p>
<p>That fact is worth talking about exactly because of all the changes to the MINI lineup, IMHO.</p>
<p>And we do every month every 1st of the month. Around the 15th we report on international sales.</p>
<p>I do think focusing on double-digit growth after a drastic slip in sales is misleading, but I don’t think it’s intentional. Sorry if it felt like I was pointing fingers.</p>
<p>But I will disagree that going back 2-3 years stops making sense when the lineup changes so much. When there are big lineup changes, there can be disruption to the sales figures; sometimes significant disruption (as was the case with the flagship model R56->F56 change). Going back 2-3 years helps reduce the effect the disruption has on the numbers and actually gives a more clear picture of how the brand is doing compared to the entire space.</p>
<p>No worries. Debating is fun! Point taken; we’ll add a trend chart showing prior year results like we do for local sales.</p>