The BMW Group continued on its successful course in April with an increase of 6.8% in sales. A total of 155,419 (prev. yr. 145,541) BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were sold worldwide last month. Over the past four months the number of deliveries climbed 5.7% to a new all-time high of 603,619 vehicles (prev. yr. 571,084).

BMW has started the national roll-out of a ‘BMW Genius’ programme at UK dealerships following a highly successful pilot scheme in 2012. Each BMW Genius will be steeped in the increasingly sophisticated technologies and personalisation options available from BMW to help guide customers through every step of the ordering, buying, test drive and handover process, and will be on call to help with any subsequent queries or service updates.

Feedback from the pilot programme, conducted at 10 BMW dealerships who collectively employed 14 Geniuses, produced an extremely high level of customer satisfaction. Customers highly rated BMW Geniuses for their product knowledge, ability to explain the features and functionality of the model range and their willingness to meet individual needs.

The BMW Geniuses will initially work alongside existing … CONTINUED

BMW has been ranked as the world’s most powerful car brand by Forbes. Among all companies in the world, it ranked #9 overall and #5 in consumer perception. In Forbes’ Most Admired Company List, BMW came in 14th.

The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported April sales of 29,011 vehicles, an increase of 8.3 percent from the 26,793 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, the BMW Group (BMW and MINI combined) is up 5.3 percent on sales of 107,968 in the first four months of 2013 compared to 102,522 in the same period in 2012.

“The solid April results are a good set-up for the months ahead as BMW transitions to model year 2014 with a range of new models coming to market,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “Our dealers are reporting a sizeable increase in business and we expect to see even more in May and June.”

BMW Brand Sales
Sales of … CONTINUED

According to Leftlanenews, a leaked document reveals that the official English name of this new joint brand is called “Zinoro” (which, not surprisingly, sounds like an English variation on “Zhi Nuo” (the Chinese name of the new brand)). The Zinoro models are expected to be green entry-level vehicles which will slot in under the MINI brand.

The BMW Group sold more vehicles in March than in any other month in its history. The company sold a total of 191,269 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles in the past month, exceeding the previous all-time high in March last year (185,741 units/+3.0%). The company also achieved a new high for the first three months: Retail volumes for the year to the end of March increased by 5.3% to 448,200 units (prev. yr. 425,543 units).

Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management, Sales and Marketing BMW: “The BMW Group achieved an all-time high in sales last month and the best first quarter in its history, despite the headwinds present in Europe. Sales of the BMW 3 Series have contributed strongly to that growth and we … CONTINUED

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We recently reported on a new joint venture between BMW and China’s Brilliance car company, called “Zhi Nuo” (which translates into “The Promise”) [more details]. This new brand name will be introduced at the Shanghai auto show later this month and will build its cars in China upon the E90 3 Series and X1 platform.

Under the joint venture, BMW has the right to export cars produced under the co-brand. According to Autonews, BMW is now considering exporting the Zhi Nuo built models outside of China, and not just to emerging markets but possibly also mature markets such as Europe.

No specific target export markets have yet been announced, but it will be interesting to see if these Chinese produced cars … CONTINUED

BMW brand sales up 13.1 percent, best March ever
MINI brand sales up 3.5 percent
BMW Motorcycle sales up 7.6 percent

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - April 2, 2013… The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported March sales of 33,149 vehicles, an increase of 11.2 percent from the 29,806 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, the BMW Group (BMW and MINI combined) is up 4.3 percent on sales of 78,957 in the first three months of 2013 compared to 75,729 in the same period in 2012.

“March roared out like a lion giving BMW even better numbers than the previous record set in 2007,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “The arrival this month of the new 320i … CONTINUED