BMW acknowledges it has diverted tens of thousands of cars that were originally meant for the European market, to the US and Asia in 2012. The OEM attributes this move to weak sales as a result of the European debt crisis.
Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW, responsible for Sales and Marketing feels that challenges in Europe are getting greater. According to him, the region faces “a lot of bumps on the road,” before the market stabilises, Bloomberg reported. Robertson believes that a recovery of the European automotive market could take years.
So far, BMW has managed to avoid the brunt of the crisis, thanks to continued robust demand in the US and China for its vehicles. For the rest of this year, Robertson expects positive growth in the US, and demand from China as well, although sales growth in this Asian market has dropped since January 2012. Robertson attributed the slowdown in China as being part of the European crisis.
Bloomberg, citing Robertson, said the company may have to help its dealers through the crisis. BMW faces, in his words, some very difficult decisions pertaining to a restructuring of its dealership network in Spain.
BMW Group reported its highest ever September sales last month, selling 177,716 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles worldwide. This figure was 11.6% higher than the 159,223 cars and SUVs it sold in September 2011.
The OEM also recorded its best figures for the January-September period, with sales totalling 1,335,502 units this year, compared with 1,232,619 vehicles sold in the corresponding nine-month period, in 2011.
“We made solid gains in many of our markets last month and were once again able to achieve record sales in September, despite the difficult environment in some European countries. Our models continue to perform well and we expect to see further healthy growth in worldwide sales in the fourth quarter. We are well on course to achieving a new sales record for the whole year,” Robertson said when the sales results were released.
In Europe, BMW Group sales improved by 4.8% last month, up to 92,442 units, resulting in a 0.8% increase in the first three quarters of the year, to reach 639,798 vehicles.
