BMW Group Malaysia has announced its sales performance for 2021, with a total of 10,500 vehicles delivered across its BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad brands. While the figure is less than the 11,016 vehicles recorded in the year prior, the company said it has “taken the leading position in the premium segment in Malaysia once again,” which is for a second consecutive year.
In detail, BMW cars accounted for 80%, or 8,400 units, of the total number of vehicles sold last year, which was enough for a 47% market share of the premium segment, although the number of cars sold is 5.6% less than the year prior. The 3 Series remained the brand’s best-selling model with 2,400 units and led by the 320i Sport variant.
This is followed by the 2 Series Gran Coupe, which managed to overtake the 5 Series for the very first time with 1,270 deliveries. The 5er was the third best-selling BMW car in Malaysia last year with 1,150 units and the 530i M Sport being the most popular variant. The three top-performing models are all locally assembled (CKD) in Malaysia, specifically in Kulim, Kedah.
As for SUVs, the BMW X range saw a combined 3,200 deliveries to match the performance seen in 2020. The X1 led the way as the top-selling Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) with 960 units sold, followed by the X5 with 850 units, which is a 22% increase from 2020.
Meanwhile, deliveries of MINI vehicles amounted to 940 units to put the brand in third place in the same segment, with the result being a 5.6% improvement from 2020. Once again, the Countryman was the most popular model, making up 68% of MINI deliveries For 2021, over 16% of all MINI vehicles delivered were electrified, compared to just 7% in 2020.
The company also pointed out that 16% of the total 10,500 units delivered, or 1,680 units, were electrified models, bringing the total number of electrified BMW and MINI vehicles in the country to just over 21,600 units.
As for BMW Motorrad, it ranked first in the Malaysian market for high-powered motorcycles above 500 cc last year with over 1,100 deliveries – a first-time achievement in the segment. This result saw the brand capture 20% of the market with the highest amount of vehicle registrations within the segment for a 5% growth from 2020.
The Adventure models contributed the most in terms of sales with 657 deliveries, led by the R 1250 GS Adventure. This was followed by the Touring bikes with 159 deliveries, of which over 65% were represented by the R 1250 RT.
“Our achievements in 2021 are strongly attributed to the unwavering support of our loyal customers in Malaysia, our dedicated network of dealers as well as our employees who produced nothing short of exceptional work and achievement, despite the economic and social challenges posed to many industries especially our due to the pandemic last year. I would like to take a moment to say thank you and congratulations for this amazing achievement,” said Hans de Visser, managing director of BMW Group Malaysia.
“Leveraging on the lessons learned as an organisation from the first pandemic year, we navigated the second year with strategies in place to tackle economic slowdowns in the industry, and we successfully introduced 37 model variants across the BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad portfolio despite repeated lockdowns,” de Visser noted.
“2021 was also the year of our electrification offensive, for us as well as the BMW Group worldwide, and with the amazing response we have received in Malaysia for the all-new BMW i models, we are confident that the electric future we envision for Malaysia will soon become reality. We are ready for it and so is Malaysia as we now steer and drive into 2022 fully electrified,” he added.
Stepping into the financial side of things, BMW Group Financial Services Malaysia reported that it had successfully financed over 5,500 vehicles across the BMW Group Malaysia portfolio last year, or 50% of all BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad vehicles delivered last year. Eight out of 10 contracts last year were also funded digitally via BMW Engage, which will be made available for BMW Motorrad customers this year.
In 2022, BMW Group Malaysia is looking forward to setting a new milestone of assembling its 100,000th vehicle at its Kulim plant. The company is committed to electrification here and has already launched a few all-electric and plug-in hybrid models, the latter includes the first-in-Malaysia X3 xDrive30e M Sport this year.
On the former, two BMW i models – the iX and iX3 have already gone on sale – with the i4 set to join the mix. This will see the company expand its public charging network nationwide, covering not just the Greater Klang Valley but also the northern and southern regions as well.
As of January 2022, there are 77 BMW i charging facilities across the country, with 25 facilities powered by partnerships with local dealers and industry players. This is complemented by 16 Shell Recharge charging points as well as 319 charging facilities on the ChargEV platform operated by GreenTech Malaysia.
BMW Group Malaysia also has an eye on sustainability through its RE:GENERATE programme to repurpose waste and by-products from its business processes. This was carried out with strategic partnerships and initiatives with Precious Plastic Malaysia, EV Connection and Pentas Flora to develop solutions to address and repurpose plastic, EV batteries as well as automotive lubricant and solvent waste from its business process value chain.
“We are going beyond delivering premium vehicles that are the ‘Ultimate Driving Machines’, but vehicles that are ultimately responsible for the planet and our future generations. We recognise that the time has come for a shared vision for electrified mobility with a shared responsibility by all stakeholders to act and transform our industries into a responsible ecosystem that is built for the future,” de Visser commented
For us at BMW Group Malaysia, this is an ecosystem where ‘Future Mobility’ can truly thrive in. This is the future we envision and with the support of our customers, dealers, associates and the Malaysian government here – we are more than optimistic that this Electric Future will be a successful one,” he ended.
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Congratulations BMW Malaysia! Well done! Now, can we have Apple Carplay activated without charge? Car comes with lots of fancy stuff but have to pay for Apple Carplay.
Congrats BMW
Nice…until W206 comes out and Merc will gain the leading position in the premium segment
You should just put in table easier to read. If not it’s so confusing with such English.