BMW Sales Up 12% for December, Down 20% for the Year

BMW brand sales up 11.5 percent; MINI sales decreased 2.2 percent; MINI achieved second best year ever since launch in the US in 2002

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – January 5, 2010… The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported December sales of 23,617 vehicles, an increase of 9.2 percent from the 21,626 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. For 2009, the BMW Group also reported a total sales volume of 241,727 vehicles, down 20.3 percent compared to 303,190 vehicles sold in 2008.

BMW Brand Sales

Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 11.5 percent in December for a total of 20,128 vehicles compared to 18,060 vehicles reported in the same month a year ago. For the year, BMW brand sales were down 21.1 percent to 196,502 vehicles compared to 249,113 vehicles sold in 2008.

Sales showed a good performance throughout the model line-up. Supported by strong X5 AdvancedDiesel sales – one out of three customers opted for a Diesel model – the X5 sold 3,513 vehicles, up 22.3 percent compared to December 2008. The BMW X6 was up 30.1 percent to 562 units. The 5 Series gained 5.8 percent vs. December 2008 just prior to the introduction of an all-new 5 Series in the second quarter of 2010. The all-new BMW 7 Series and Z4 Roadster also had significant increases compared to last December, partially due to model cycle updates and limited inventory a year ago.

“The numbers show a good month for us, but more importantly is the fact we saw traffic, shopping and sales evenly distributed throughout December,” said Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW of North America, LLC. “We take this as a hopeful sign that there’s a bit more rational demand building up in the premium market rather than just shopping for month-end deals.”

BMW Certified Pre-Owned (CPO)

In December, BMW’s Certified Pre-Owned program achieved its second best month ever with 11,134 vehicles sold, topped only by the 11,719 vehicles reported in the same month a year ago. For the year, CPO sales were up 9.5 percent to 114,423 over the 104,500 reported in 2008, making 2009 a new record year for the program.