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Agency Report –
Munich – German luxury carmaker BMW has suffered a slight decline in sales in 2024, according to annual figures released by the company on Monday.
Overall, total deliveries fell by 4% to 2.45 million cars, according to the manufacturer. Demand was particularly subdued in China.
In addition, BMW suffered from delivery suspensions in the second half of the year due to problems with a brake system.
The core BMW brand accounted for 2.2 million deliveries, a drop of 2.3% compared to the year before. BMW subsidiary Mini performed significantly worse with 245,000 cars and a decline of 17%, while high-end British luxury subsidiary Rolls-Royce sold 5,712 cars, a drop of 5.3%.
Overall sales for BMW’s brands in China fell by 13% in 2024 to 715,000 cars.
Other German manufacturers have likewise struggled in China, once a lucrative market which has become increasingly competitive as Chinese rivals have improved their offerings.
Slower economic growth in China has also pushed down demand for foreign cars.
In the United States and Europe, however, BMW was able to increase its deliveries slightly.
BMW has also shown stronger growth in electric vehicle sales than many of its German rivals, who have struggled to earn profits in the electric sub-market.
Sales of BMW’s purely electric cars increased by 13.5% to 427,000 cars in 2024, according to the company.
BMW sales executive Jochen Goller expressed confidence on Monday that this growth will continue in 2025.
Although BMW’s sales declined, rival German luxury carmakers did worse.
At Audi, a subsidiary of carmaking giant Volkswagen, deliveries fell by 12% to 1.67 million in 2024. Porsche, another Volkswagen subsidiary, saw sales drop by 3% to 310,700 vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz Cars recently reported a drop of 3% to 1.98 million, although this figure also includes several thousand Smart-brand vehicles.
Including vans, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.39 million total vehicles in 2024, a drop of 4%. Mercedes-Benz does not provide figures for passenger cars of the core brand only.
By Christof Rührmair
