BMW US sales in October dropped 3.4% compared to October 2016. While this is larger than the 1.1% drop for all light vehicles, sedan sales dropped even more. Sedan sales in the US dropped 8.8%. The was countered by growth in light trucks.

As the industry accepts the fact that sales have plateaued this year, some trends are clear: Discounts are up. Fleet sales are up. This is driven in part by an excess of 2017 model year vehicles still on dealer lots. Truck and SUV sales are up. And lastly, flood replacement sales have given a late-season boost to sales in what are typically down months.

Luxury sedans are getting hammered. The Mercedes-Benz S class is down 24.8% year to date, and the 7-Series is down slightly more, dropping 28.8%. The Cadillac CTS is off over 30%! For some more context on how big the swing to SUVs has been over time, luxury sedans were 7.6% of new vehicle sales in 2007. Through September of this year, that had dropped to about 4.9% That’s one in three former buyers have given up on luxury sedans. Ouch!

The other good news for BMW is that while Mercedes-Benz is increasing it’s annual sales lead, Lexus has dropped back another 314 units into third, now 830 units behind BMW. 2nd place is BMW’s to lose, it’s going to be close.

Official News – Woodcliff Lake, NJ November 2, 2017: Sales of BMW brand vehicles decreased 3.4 percent in October for a total of 23,208 compared to 24,017 vehicles sold in October 2016. Year-to-date, the BMW brand is down 4.2 percent in the U.S. on sales of 243,383 vehicles compared to 254,150 sold in the first ten months of 2016.

Notable vehicle sales in October include the new BMW 5 Series and BMW 4 Series, which both showed strong gains for the fourth straight month, and the BMW X5. The BMW 5 Series increased 132.3 percent to 3,396 vehicles, while the BMW 4 Series increased 11.5 percent to 3,181 vehicles. The BMW X5 increased 9.5 percent to 4,254 vehicles.

“Both the new 5 Series and 4 Series continued to perform well in October, while X5 numbers were bolstered by increased availability in the market,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “Electrified vehicles also showed strong momentum last month, with nearly 20% of all 5 Series sold as plug-in hybrids. With the launch of the all-new BMW X3 just days away, we have high anticipation for November.”

BMW Group Electrified Vehicle Sales
Sales of BMW Group electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles increased 20.6 percent to 15,595 through October 2017 (YTD), accounting for 5.5 percent of total BMW Group sales in the U.S. Currently, BMW offers six electrified vehicle models in the U.S., including the BMW i3 and BMW i8, as well as the BMW i Performance models: BMW 330e, BMW 530e, BMW 740e and the BMW X5 xDrive 40e. MINI offers the MINI Countryman plug-in-hybrid electric vehicle, which launched in June 2017.
BMW Pre-Owned Vehicles

  • In October, BMW Certified Pre-Owned sold 9,961 vehicles, a decrease of 11.9 percent from October 2016.
  • Total BMW Pre-Owned sold 18,180 vehicles, a decrease of 16.6 percent from October 2016.
  • Total BMW Pre-Owned cars sold year-to-date were 198,869, a 4.4 percent increase from the first ten months of 2016.