BMW has reversed a prolonged decline in car sales, delivering 588,300 vehicles globally in the third quarter, an 8.8% increase compared to the same period last year, the German automaker announced on Tuesday.
Sales of the core BMW brand rose by 5.7% to 514,620 units. The total figure also includes 72,376 cars from the British Mini brand, a 37.5% increase, and 1,304 Rolls-Royce vehicles, up 13%.
The sharp rise in sales is partially due to a low comparison base. In the third quarter of last year, issues with brake components supplied by Continental forced BMW to temporarily halt deliveries. By comparison, two years ago, the company sold 621,700 vehicles in the same timeframe, which is still significantly more than this year.
Sales for the year to date are 2.4% higher than last year. “We are particularly pleased with the strong growth in Europe and the Americas, as well as with the Mini brand,” said sales director Jochen Goller.
In the United States, BMW delivered 104,163 BMW and Mini vehicles during the third quarter, a 25% year-on-year increase, despite higher import tariffs under President Donald Trump. Europe saw a 9.3% rise, with 239,620 vehicles delivered, while sales in Germany climbed 12.3% to 72,939.
However, challenges remain in the key Chinese market. BMW’s third-quarter sales in China dipped by 0.4% to 147,121 vehicles, following a drop of nearly 30% in the same quarter last year.
