BMW of North America wanted a positive start in January 2015 as it begins the year-long race to defend its U.S. luxury sales title that it took from Mercedes-Benz last year. The good news: BMW achieved that positive result—a 4-percent jump over January 2014 sales. The not-so-good news: Mercedes-Benz jumped higher.
Mercedes had its best January ever, selling 24,619 vehicles in the U.S., which was an 8.9-percent increase over its January sales a year ago. That beat BMW’s 18,981 units delivered. In what may be an even bigger surprise than Mercedes-Benz’s 2015 jump start, Lexus January sales were an astronomical 31 percent higher than the same month a year ago. Its 23,131 vehicles sold vaulted the former U.S. luxury champ into second place ahead of BMW.
Prior to 2011 when BMW took the luxury title, Lexus was the perennial leader.
Despite the first-round standings, Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America was optimistic, saying, “Coming after a record December and a record 2014 year-end result, the January numbers are a solid start for the new year and I am confident the trend will accelerate in the months ahead. I am especially pleased that Mini is again showing its strength as availability of its new models improves.”
Although Mini sales don’t count toward the premium car sales title, Willisch had every right to be happy about the resurgence of the Mini, which posted a 26.9-percent increase from January 2014 with 3,228 cars sold.
Highlights of BMW’s January 2015 sales included the BMW 3 and 4 Series, which together increased 13.2 percent to 7,348 cars; the BMW 7 Series, which jumped 10.8 percent to 637 big sedans; and the BMW X5, up 16.7 percent to 3,214 vehicles.
For those fans of two-wheel conveyances, BMW Motorrad delivered 11.8 percent more motorcycles and scooters in the U.S. than it did in January a year ago.
The annual sales race is a marathon, not a sprint, so we will watch the monthly standings to see if BMW gets back on track to take the lead, or falls to one of its many high-end competitors.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
