Demand for SUVs sees BMW hit record

BMW REPORTED record sales last year on strong demand for its sport-utility vehicles and the overhauled 1-Series compact but was outsold by Mercedes-Benz, keeping the order in the threeway German luxury sales race unchanged.

Sales of BMW brand models rose 4.2 per cent in 2017 to 2.09 million passenger cars and SUVs, the Munich-based carmaker said, compared with a 9.9 per cent gain to 2.29 million at Mercedes, which claimed the top spot in global luxury car sales rankings for a second year.

Registrations at Volkswagen’s Audi premium division edged up 0.6 per cent to a record 1.88 million cars, it said on Friday, benefiting from a 34 per cent December surge in China, the brand’s largest market.

BMW, which had kept the global luxury sales crown for about a decade before slipping behind Mercedes in 2016, said deliveries were fuelled by a 9.6 per cent gain for its SUV line-up and a 15 per cent increase for the 1-Series.

“I‘m confident BMW sales will continue to grow during 2018, while we also maintain our focus on profitability,” said new sales chief Pieter Nota, who replaced Ian Robertson on January 1.

BMW posted a 9.5 per cent gain in December registrations to 195,916 vehicles, narrowly beating Mercedes and Audi whose sales came in at 193,534 and 180,250 cars respectively.