BMW reportedly boosted global group car sales by 10% in January as its ambitious new model offensive continued to pay off, especially in the key US and German markets.
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Reuters said sales of the core BMW brand gained 9.5% to 64,785 units, while deliveries of the Mini compact advanced 11.9% to 16,987 units. The BMW numbers were flattered by interrupted production at a Munich plant a year earlier, the news agency noted.
Rolls-Royce delivered 32 Phantoms in January, a decline of 36%, Reuters added.
The new agency said the Munich-based company has forecast another year of record sales for all three brands in 2005, driven mainly by the launch of its revamped best-selling 3-series sedan next month.
“We have set high targets for 2005. The figures we have produced in January show that we have made a good start,” Michael Ganal, BMW’s head of sales and marketing, reportedly said.
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By GlobalDataTogether with the expected 120,000 to 150,000 units in added sales from its new 1-series hatchback, entering its first full production year after its premiere last September, BMW stands a good chance of unseating Mercedes-Benz as the world’s most popular premium brand and Mercedes does not seem to be putting up much of a fight, Reuters said.
On Friday, the luxury arm of DaimlerChrysler reportedly said sales of its flagship brand dropped 12.1% to 61,300 cars in January, but has also forecast sales would pick up as new models arrive.
Reuters noted that BMW’s arch-rival blamed last month’s weak figure in part on a delay in deliveries caused by faulty diesel fuel-injection pumps from Bosch, which were also supplied to BMW, and added that both BMW and Mercedes have announced temporary unscheduled production stops this week as a result.
Overall, the Mercedes Car Group, which includes the Smart line of compacts and the super-luxury Maybach marque, recorded a 6.4% decline in January deliveries to 71,900 units, Reuters said.
BMW group sales already edged out Mercedes group sales in 2004 by some 8,232 units, after posting a 9.4% rise in deliveries to nearly 1.21 million vehicles, the report added.
Boosted by its largest-ever model offensive, BMW expects record 2004 earnings on a 6.8% rise in group revenue, Reuters said.
