BMW closes 2020 with strong Q4
A global leading automobile company also with presence in Nigeria, BMW Group, has announced that it ended 2020 with strong Q4, and has led the premium segment worldwide for 17th consecutive year.
The BMW Group made the confirmation of its position as the world leading premium automotive manufacturer of year 2020 on the basis that a total of 2,324,809 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles (-8.4%) were delivered to customers across the world.
The Group said 686,069 vehicles were sold at group level in the fourth quarter, to make an increase of three per cent (+3.2%) year-on-year.
According to the Group, sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles raised close to 40 per cent (38.9%) comparing to 2019, reflecting strong customer interest in the drive train variant.
Pieter Nota, member Board of Management, BMW responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales, said: “We responded to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic with great agility in sales management and production. As a result, we succeeded in concluding the year with a strong fourth quarter and once again we lead the premium segment worldwide.”
With the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the desire of customers for the sales process to be as contactless as possible, the BMW Group systematically pushed ahead with digitalisation in 2020: sales representatives in more than 60 markets which are able to advise customers and sell vehicles regardless of their location.
One of the strategies used was configuration of vehicles and using a shared screen or give customers a live demonstration of the cars in stock.
The automobile company expressed that the BMW brand finished the year with a total of 2,028,659 (-7.2%) vehicles delivered to customers worldwide. It was noted that a significant contribution was made by the strong performance of the models in the upper luxury segment which increased by 12.4 per cent year-on-year to a total of 115,420 units.
The new development and achievement of BMW is believed to have come from the company’s 7 series, 8 series and BMW X7 series.
BMW as an e-mobility pioneer, the BMW Group was reported to have sold a total of 192,646 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles worldwide in 2020– an increase of a third (+31.8%) over 2019. This implies that electromobility is also a significant growth driver for the company in absolute terms.
Report has also shown that the BMW Group now have increased number of electrified vehicles (pure electric and plug-in hybrid) in its line-up to 13 models, which are available in 74 markets around the world.
Looking into the future, the BMW Group has planned to almost double its line-up to 25 electrified vehicles, of which more than half will be fully electric by 2023.
In 2020 both the new BMW M3 and the BMW M4 celebrated their world premieres and both models will be launched in the first quarter of 2021.
The company’s fifth-largest market, South Korea, reported significant sales increase of a third (+30.5%), compared to 2019, and with 69,872 units sold while BMW Group US also sold a total of 306,870 units (-18.0%) in 2019.
BMW is a German motor vehicle manufacturer established in March 7, 1916 when an aircraft engine manufacturer called Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG was formed.
The company became an automobile manufacturer in 1928 when it purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which, at the time, built Austin Sevens under licence under the Dixi marque.
The first car sold as a BMW was a rebadged Dixi called the BMW 3/15; while its first mass-produced turbocharged petrol engine was introduced in 2006, with most engines switching over to turbocharging over the following decade, and subsequently, the automobile company’s first hybrid car was the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7, and BMW’s first electric car was the BMW i3 city car, which was released in 2013.
BMW is a global brand with high presence in the Nigeria market.
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