BMW Group announces record figures for first 8 months of 2011
The BMW Group has just announced its global sales performance in the first 8 months of 2011, and it is good news worldwide. Global figures are at a record high along with that of the Asia Pacific region and Malaysia as announced in an exclusive business briefing session chaired by Guenther Seemann, Regional Director for BMW APAC and South Africa, as well as Geoffrey Briscoe, Managing Director for BMW Group Malaysia.
Until August, the BMW Group found homes for 1,073,363 of its vehicles, which includes the BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce marques. The figure is a massive 16.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2010, and this builds on an earlier announcement from the Group that the first half of 2011 has turned out to be its most profitable ever with earnings before tax coming to €4.8 billion – a 220% year-on-year increase from 2010.
Figures in Malaysia make a small fraction of the Group’s global earnings, but the level of growth recorded is no less impressive. From January to August 2011, some 3,711 BMW and MINI vehicles found new owners, a 28% increase from the 2,893 recorded in 2010, which was already a record year for BMW Malaysia.
Mr. Seemann noted, “With the solid performance of the BMW Group in Malaysia, it comes as no surprise then that the we have just earmarked Malaysia as one of BMW’s key growth markets; countries with the right combination of personal wealth, manufacturing capabilities and Government legislature to become a key market for our automobiles. We will be investing in up scaling our operations in Malaysia to realise the market potential here.”
Briscoe echoed Seemann’s views, stating “With the infrastructure already in place, including our Regional Training Centre in Cyberjaya, assembly plant in Kulim, Parts Distribution Centre in the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and not forgetting our nationwide network of dealerships, coupled with our extensive product portfolio, I am confident that Malaysia is primed and ready to become a top tier emerging market for BMW.”
Over the past twelve months, BMW has been actively expanding its dealership network in Malaysia with the opening of new 4S centres to cater for increasing customer demand for its cars. In addition, the Group has also ramped up production of its locally-assembled vehicles from the Inokom plant in Kulim by more than 70% this year. By the end of 2011, some 5,000 vehicles would have been rolled out from the plant’s dedicated BMW line.
In the last couple of years, BMW has also been noted for actively promoting the advancement of diesel power in Malaysia. BMW’s current portfolio of vehicles in Malaysia includes a wide range of diesel models, and according to Briscoe, some 15% of new BMW vehicles sold thus far in 2011 have been diesel-powered.
Modern diesel engines are clean and highly efficient, although full environmental benefits are only accessible with high quality fuel. Briscoe noted that although the introduction of B5 biodiesel and the promised introduction of Euro 4M diesel in Malaysia represents promising strides, further steps still need to be taken to promote users to embrace the benefits of clean diesel power.
