BMW on track to post record profits and sales volume

BMW is on a roll, and has just revealed that the first half of 2011 was the company’s best ever, thanks to rising sales and profits. In fact, the Munich based carmaker is firmly on track to achieve its best ever year in terms of profit and sales volume.

“We are aiming to achieve a record-breaking profit before tax and to increase sales volume by over 10 per cent to a new high of more than 1.6 million vehicles. We are well on track to remain the world’s leading manufacturer of premium cars,” said CEO Norbert Reithofer.

For the second-quarter of 2011, profits jumped 66% year-on-year to 2.85 billion euros, while sales were up by 18.5% to 450,608 vehicles. Q2 was also kind to BMW’s MINI brand, which saw a 35.6% sales jump. For the first half of the year, 141,913 MINIs found new homes, including 40,171 units of the Countryman, the brand’s latest model (read our test drive report here).

BMW says that the MINI brand is “generating a high-value product mix” – 48.3% of customers opt for Cooper spec and 32% cough out more for Cooper S variants.

BMW’s range of SUVs are pulling a lot of weight in the premium market tug of war. Sales of the X1 rose 34.2% to 62,698 units, the new X3 contributed 53,522 units and even the not exactly fresh X5 recorded a 4.9% jump to 48,749 units. The F10 5-Series is also a strong seller, with 170,708 units sold, while the 7-Series limo recorded a 3% rise to 31,764 units.

Ultra luxury marque Rolls-Royce isn’t left out. Sales volumes for the first half rose by a massive 64.1% to 1,592 units, buoyed by the “entry level” (if there’s such a thing) Ghost model.

Jolyon Nash, RR’s sharp suited director of sales and marketing, told us that while USA is still the biggest market for the brand, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region (170% up). He also revealed that 80% of Ghost buyers are new to the Rolls-Royce brand, which is a good sign as they’ll most probably “graduate” to a Phantom later.

Rolls-Royce is on track to beat last year’s record of 2,711 units sold, and it’s only going to get better with upcoming products such as the Ghost Extended Wheelbase (EWB), which will be launched here end 2011. Read our previous post on the Ghost EWB here.

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