BMW emerges as South Africa’s top selling luxury car brand for the fourth consecutive year

• The BMW Group sells 27,671 units in 2013 to top the premium segment for the fourth year running.
• More than one in every three luxury cars sold is from the BMW Group.
• Year on year, the MINI brand grew by 3% with 2,878 MINIs sold – another record year of sales.

Midrand – The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) automobile sales results released this week have confirmed that BMW was once again South Africa’s favourite premium car brand in 2013.

This is the fourth consecutive year (and the seventh year out of the last 10 years) that BMW has been identified as the market leader in the local luxury car segment. More significantly, when BMW results are combined with MINI sales figures in 2013, more than one in every three luxury cars sold was from the BMW Group.

The NAAMSA figures showed that a total of 27,671 BMW Group units were registered in 2013, resulting in a 0.5% growth compared to 2012 (27 539).

*Registration figures according to NAAMSA results released on 7 January 2014.

This performance resulted in the BMW Group having a total premium segment share of 35,5% and an overall market share of 7.3%.

“We are delighted to remain South Africa’s number one manufacturer and seller of premium vehicles once again for the fourth consecutive year. We can attribute our overall performance in 2013 to the strong demand for the BMW 3 Series – produced in Rosslyn for export markets around the world – as well as considerable sales success for the BMW 1 Series, the BMW 5 Series and the BMW X1 as well as the outgoing BMW X5,” says Mr Bodo Donauer, Managing Director of BMW South Africa.

“Significantly, 2013 was another record year for the MINI brand which continues to grow from strength to strength in the small premium car segment. The MINI hatch continues to be our best seller followed by the MINI Countryman, which has only been on the market for two years.” Donauer continues.

Donauer believes the success of the BMW Group’s sales in 2013 can also be attributed to the company having the youngest premium vehicle model line-up and robust demand for the many new vehicles the company launched in 2013. At the same time, the company has won a number of awards in 2013 including being named the Coolest Car Brand in the Sunday Times Generation Next Awards and scooping the title in the Premium Class-Road Warriors category in the Standard Bank People’s Wheels Awards for its BMW 3 Series Sedan.

Looking ahead, Donauer says that the launch of several new models will stand the BMW Group in good stead in the coming year and should have a significant impact on BMW’s sales successes in 2014 and beyond.

The new BMW X5, BMW 2 Series Coupe, BMW 4 Series Convertible, BMW M3 Sedan and M4 Coupe as well as the new MINI are all set to be launched in South Africa this year.

“Whilst economic and political conditions may change the overall outlook for growth in 2014, we still expect sales to continue to develop positively this year. We will continue to offer our customers a young, attractive product portfolio which reinforces the BMW Group’s position as the world’s most sustainable and premium car manufacturer,” Donauer concludes.

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  About the BMW Group

The BMW Group is the leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 28 production and assembly facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2012, the BMW Group sold about 1.85 million cars and more than 117,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2012 was euro 7.82 billion on revenues amounting to euro 76.85 billion. At 31 December 2012, the BMW Group had a workforce of 105,876 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

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