Auto industry
Burglary in China pulls BMW sales into the minus
In all other regions, the manufacturer went up – especially with electric cars.
A violent slump in China has dragged the global sales of BMW into the minus. In total, the Munich -based company sold 586,149 cars in the first quarter – that was 1.4 percent less than in the same period last year. A crash of 17.2 percent was crucial to 155,195 vehicles in China. BMW suffers here – like its competitors from the current weakness of the highly competitive market.
BMW performed much better in the other two important regions of Europe and America. In Europe, the Munich -based company – including the daughter Mini – achieved an increase from 6.2 percent to 241,867 cars, in America by 5.4 percent to 114,313 cars – 94,591 of them in the United States. In the home market in Germany, however, there was a slight minus of 1.3 percent to 61,264 cars. However, according to sales director Jochen Goller, there was significant growth in the order inputs.
Stromer attract thanks to Europe
The sales of pure electric cars developed significantly more positively, which attracted 32.4 percent to 109,516 – driven by a strong plus in Europe. The daughter Mini, who renewed her portfolio last year, was able to assert itself with an increase from 4.1 percent to 64,626 cars, while the core brand BMW gave up 2 percent to 520,142 cars, the luxury factory Rolls-Royce even by 9.4 percent to 1,381.
Despite declining numbers, BMW is somewhat better compared to its two German premium competitors Mercedes-Benz and Audi in the first quarter. The Mercedes car division had a drop in sales from 4 percent to 446,300 cars sold in the first quarter, and Audi went down by 3.4 percent to 383,401 cars. In the number of electric cars sold, BMW both currently leaves far behind.
dpa
Source: Stern
