http://www.bmwgroup.com/e/0_0_www_bmwgroup_com/investor_relations/corporate_news/news/2014/news_q1_2014.html
BMW was performing extremely well during the first quarter of 2014. A report from BWM AG suggests that “first-quarter sales volume, revenues and earnings were all up on the previous year”. The report also provides the following information: Worldwide sales rose by 12.3% to 428,259 units (2013: 381,404 units); Group revenue rose by 3.9%; Group net profit rose by 11.4%;
Asia is becoming the most important market for BMW. BMW sales in Asia rose by 21%. Particularly, “mainland China saw a 25.4% increase in delivery”. High demand for luxury cars and SUVs in China had contributed to the increase in sales. 5 series along contributed 35% of total sales in China. Also, BMW sold more cars in China than in US in the past four months
BMW is currently so successful because it has been actively developing new products. We learned from Mr.Cosgrove that great products are the backbones of an auto company. The amount of R&D expenditure in 2013 is 6.3% of group’s overall revenue. BMW
BMW is also planning to bring in more products in the next few years. The amount of models BMW currently have is already a lot more than in 2005. The upcoming models include SUVs and small luxury cars, which are the favorites of customers in US, China, and Europe.
There has been a lot of posts concerning BMW as well as other luxury vehicles. BMW is going to release the new i8, a very well designed hybrid sports car, BMW believes it could represent the future of how luxury vehicles are made. The huge increase in sales can be attributed to the boom in the luxury vehicle market last year. Probably associated with a good economic year as well as the continuation of the growth of the middle class in China.
Yes, between expanding into new markets such as China and developing a number of new models in coming years, BMW is poised for future success. It seems the importance of the Asian market in the auto industry cannot be underestimated.
I was also surprised that the cut in government expenditures on purchasing new vehicles did not affect BMW’s business in China at all. Perhaps government was not and should never be BMW’s customers
BMW is looking very strong for the future as they have made a strong push in China and they have released an electric car that uses solar power that should help them gain revenue and gain exposure as one of the leaders in electronic powered cars.
I think it depends on how cheap BMW can make these electric cars until we can label them one of the leaders in electronically powered automobiles. Tesla is set to produce a cheaper electric vehicle, which would make more sense since that allows the average consumer to be able to purchase an electric car. BMW’s newest electric/hybrid vehicle is an extremely expensive sports car, so I imagine Tesla will have much higher sales than BMW in the electric car market.
Well, not everyone was surprised about BMW selling results in first Q of 2014. It is very important to notice that in the last years BMW is best selling of all “German Big 3” car brands. Right now, BMW is probably number one of all German luxury cars