BMW is on a roll!

blue max · 3rd January 2001, 22:09

Is there any stopping this sales train?
Check out these sales numbers guys. No wonder the wait has gotten longer. There's just too much money out there.

The beast continues to sell at a brisk rate 299 cars last month. Anyone who took delivery last month your car is in this number.

Below is a sales table for the beast since July '00.

July 270
August 247
Sept 36
Oct 244
Nov 246
Dec 299

Full press release as follows:

BMW Delivers Strongest Sales Success Ever in 2000
Wed Jan 3 16:30:00 2001 GMT
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- BMW of North America, Inc. has continued its winning streak for calendar year 2000 and surpassed all previous U.S. sales figures, reporting 189,423 vehicles, an increase of 22 percent over 154,970 vehicles sold a year ago. Sales of automobile and light trucks combined skyrocketed 58 percent in December, to 20,720, up from 13,094 a year ago.
Automobile sales
BMW also reported its best December in history with sales of 16,465 vehicles, an increase of 40 percent over the 11,783 cars sold last December.
"BMW sold more than 20,700 vehicles this past month, an incredible result for a luxury import distributor in this country," explained Tom Purves, chairman and CEO of BMW US Holding Corp. "This marks the 27th consecutive month that we've surpassed monthly sales records."
Especially strong sales were reported in the 3 Series, with an increase in year-to-date sales of 16 percent to almost 90,000, up from 77,138 in 1999.
Increases were also noted in annual sales of the 5 Series, a segment that has seen increased competition during 2000.
Sports Activity Vehicle Sales
BMW sold 26,720 X5 Sports Activity Vehicles in the first full year the award-winning X5 has been on sale. December sales of BMW's X5 were 4,255, compared to 1,312 sold in the same period a year ago and 3,408 sold last month.
Certified Pre-owned Vehicle Sales
Sales of Certified Pre-owned (CPO) BMW cars also continued to set records. In December, BMW reported sales of 3,228 CPO vehicles, up 47 percent from last December and year-end sales totaled 44,687, an increase of 58 percent over 1999 levels, when 28,253 vehicles were sold.
BMW IN AMERICA
BMW of North America was established in 1975. Since then, the company has grown to include marketing, sales and financial service organizations in the United States; a South Carolina manufacturing operation; DESIGNWORKS/USA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Palo Alto and various other operations throughout the country. BMW is represented in the U.S. through a network of more than 340 car, 315 Sports Activity Vehicle and 160 motorcycle retailers. BMW US Holding Corp., the Group's headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

BMW Car Sales Report for December 2000

2000 1999

December 16465 11783
Year-to-Date 162703 153658

December Year-to-Date December Year-to-Date
2000 2000 1999 1999

318ti 0 7 9 656
318is 0 2 0 14
318i 4-door 1 34 1 225
318i convertible 0 2 0 1
323i (E46) 409 27076 2483 29821
323is 0 2 1 2720
323i sport wagon (E46) 72 3422 0 0
323i convertible 0 351 201 5321
323Ci (E46) 67 7364 798 5066
323Ci convertible (E46) 9 5797 0 0
325i (E46) 4123 9567 0 0
325Ci (E46) 972 1923 0 0
325Ci convertible (E46) 993 2224 0 0
325i sport wagon (E46) 379 838 0 0
328is 1 6 0 1538
328Ci (E46) 9 3364 626 4468
328i 4-door 1 12 1 286
328i (E46) 29 9681 987 17573
328i convertible 3 39 27 2892
330i 1355 8110 0 0
330Ci 735 4714 0 0
330Ci convertible 837 5120 0 0
M3Ci (E46) 0 0 0 0
M3Cic (E46) 0 0 0 0
M3 2-door 0 1 4 3170
M3 4-door 0 0 0 52
M3 convertible 0 25 30 3335
3 Series 9995 89681 5168 77138

Z3 1.9 (US) 0 38 2 255
Z3 2.3 (US) 181 7736 923 10959
Z3 2.5 (US) 422 1141 0 0
Z3 2.8 roadster (US) 40 1849 252 4114
Z3 2.8 coupe (US) 4 121 27 628
Z3 3.0 roadster (US) 385 3004 0 0
Z3 3.0 coupe (US) 38 183 0 0
M roadster (US) 3 1712 252 3328
M coupe (US) 11 598 89 778
Z3 Series 1084 16382 1545 20062

525i 1432 2744 0 0
525i sport wagon 138 359 0 0
528i 121 22283 2202 25584
528i sport wagon 26 1712 179 4068
530i 1570 3416 0 0
540i sport wagon 40 447 63 879
540i 0 0 0 0
540i (E39) 388 5779 532 6987
M5 299 2963 443 700
5 Series 4014 39703 3419 38218

740i 383 5189 541 5390
740iL 899 10825 1054 12138
740iL Protection 0 17 2 11
750iL 32 577 48 679
750iL Protection 1 11 4 15
7 Series 1315 16619 1649 18233

840CiA 0 0 0 5
850CiA 0 1 2 2
850CSi 0 0 0 0
8 Series 0 1 2 7

Z8 57 317 0 0
Z8 Series 57 317 0 0

BMW Sports Activity Vehicle (light trucks) Sales Report for December 2000

2000 1999

December 4255 1311
Year-to-Date 26720 1312

December Year-to-Date December Year-to-Date
2000 2000 1999 1999

X5 3.0i (US) 2853 15849 0 0
X5 4.4i (US) 1402 10871 1311 1312
Total 4255 26720 1311 1312
SOURCE BMW of North America, Inc.
Copyright © 2000 PRNewsWire. All rights reserved.

MEnthusiast · 4th January 2001, 00:41

Blue Max,
Thanks for the info. When youre really good they call you cracker jack! and were obviously not the only ones to know that BMW is the cracker jack of autos. In many places people aspire to drive these cars. MB will always have a certain panache but BMW is gaining the audience that counts- the younger demographic. I saw a tv show about Ireland's economic revival and how everyone there works for computer companies and they all want BMWs but there is a tremendous back order. Lets just hope the success doesnt go to BMW's collective head.

From my experience driving many cars, I have to simply state that my vote for best all around car for anyone who enjoys driving would be M5 for someone who wants a standard or 740il for someone who wants more space. Whats astounding is how the 740il drives- it feels nimble and smaller than it is- until you look at the rear seat, which is in a different time zone!

ME

blue max · 4th January 2001, 01:41

Agreed ME,

The entire product line kicks butt. I also drove the 740i sport a while back. I came away very impressed. It's aimed at a different market than the beast but it's a far more engaging drive than the S-class.

Apparently management is doing something right. I'm particularly impressed at how they shifted production in SC from the Z3 to the X5 just as sales of the Z3 were softening and now the X5 sales are booming.

I also hope this does not go to their heads. But, there's always the dog (Rover)experience to keep them humble.

Rock on!