If things continue to go BMW's way the rest of the year, 2012 will wind up being one of the best sales years ever for the German automaker.
The company stated on Friday that they sold a total of 157,618 vehicles during the month of October, up 13.2 percent overall compared to September. BMW said they were pleased with the increase in sales as they thought numbers might have been lower in October due to the economic crisis occurring over in Europe.
"We are well on course to achieve a new sales record in 2012 despite the headwind present in some European markets," BMW sales and marketing board member Ian Robertson said on Friday in a press conference.
In Oct. 2011, the company sold 132,823 vehicles making it a 15.4 percent increase compared to the total number of vehicles sold in Oct. 2012. BMW finished ahead of main rivals like Audi who rose 14 percent by selling 123,600 vehicles and Mercedes who went up 6 percent in Oct. by selling 109,632 vehicles.
In the U.S., BMW sold 32,339 cars in October which was an 18.5 increase compared to September. The U.S. is consistently BMW's largest-single market month to month and the company has attributed solid sale numbers throughout the nation as one of the main reasons they have done so well in 2012 multiple times.
Sales in China increased by 51.7 percent as the company sold 27,828 vehicles in the month of October alone. The press release credited the increase in sales to the high demand for vehicles like the X1 Small Crossover which is built in China.
"The advantages of their international presence is clear to see," said Marc-Rene Tonn, a Hamburg-based analyst with Warburg Research to Bloomberg Businessweek. "There's really no crisis in the high-end segment."
European sales did increase in October, but only by less than half a percent as the company sold a total of 71,368 cars in European countries combined. BMW isn't taking the blame for this number however, as the European economy has been disastrous the past few months.
10-month sales overall are up 9.3 percent compared to 2011 as the company is on pace to remain the top-selling premium brand for 2012.
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