BMW Group Malaysia Leads The Premium Segment In Malaysia

The competition is stiff in the premium automotive category, with the victor enjoying the accompanying bragging rights for an entire year. And for its achievements in 2020, BMW Group Malaysia wants to enjoy that premium crown this year. Collectively as a group, BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad managed to deliver a total of 11,016 vehicles in 2020, giving the group a 52% share of the premium segment. Of special note to Malaysia and Malaysians, over 87% of the vehicles sold were locally-assembled models.

Despite a turbulent 2020 with disruptions to the supply chain and retail, BMW Group Malaysia still managed to introduce 25 model variants across its three major brands – BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad. Of them, four were electrified variants to enhance the company’s electromobility goal. Last year, BMW sold over 2,200 electrified vehicles, mainly the 5 Series and 7 Series.

“This success could not have been achieved without the support of our esteemed customers, our dealer network nationwide and the Malaysian government who supported the automotive industry with the Sales Tax Exemptions. To them, we extend our utmost gratitude. While our performance last year is also contributed by our operational strength and the ability to perform in a challenging environment as a team, our achievement was especially bolstered by the fervent loyalty of our customers,” Harald Hoelzl, Managing Director of BMW Group Malaysia said.

The success in Malaysia mirrors the BMW Group’s performance globally. The Group delivered over 2,300,000 units worldwide, of which over 190,000 were electrified vehicles (EV) from the BMW and MINI brands. This is an increase of over 30% in EV deliveries from 2019.

In Malaysia, the BMW brand sold 8,903 new cars in 2020, leading the overall premium segment in Malaysia by over 47%. The deliveries were led by the top-performing BMW 3 Series with over 2,500 cars delivered. About 1,400 units were the BMW 320i Sport. This is followed by the BMW 5 Series with over 1,600 units delivered, of which over 900 units were the BMW 530e plug-in hybrid.

Meanwhile, the BMW X range contributed to over 39% of sales i.e. over 3,200 units. The BMW X1 models saw over 1,000 new owners last year. Even the performance-oriented BMW M models gained over 80 new owners in 2020.

Further, MINI Malaysia contributed 987 new sales to the group’s tally, taking a 5% share in the premium segment. Its MINI Countryman models continue to do well, with the Cooper S Countryman making up about 47% of total deliveries.

On the motorcycle end, BMW Motorrad Malaysia surpassed 2019’s sales performance with 1,126 new bikes sold. The key contributor to this growth remains the Adventure segment, with over 670 new owners, of which close to 300 customers bought the BMW R 1250 GS Adventure.

Last year, BMW’s Story of Visionary Mobility was led by the BMW 530e and BMW 740Le xDrive models. Overall, the group sold over 2,200 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles last year. The other key contributors include the electrified BMW X5, the locally-assembled BMW 330e M Sport, as well as the newly-introduced All-Electric MINI. Adoption of new technology is usually top-down, and this achievement is an encouraging sign for the further development of Malaysia’s electric vehicle market (provided we set the proper policies and infrastructure for growth in place).

“For the first time ever, we are humbled to announce that our total deliveries were strongly led by our line-up of locally-assembled vehicles from the BMW and MINI brands in Malaysia – which accounted for over 87% of our total deliveries. Having surpassed the challenges presented in 2020, these figures inspire us to remain steadfast in our commitment towards furthering investments in the Malaysian automotive industry,” said Hoelzl.

Hoelzl added that BMW Group Malaysia also recorded its highest achievements in its Net Promoter Scoring for its customer satisfaction. It achieved over 90% positive satisfaction responses from customers regarding their experiences with the BMW and MINI brands in 2020.

The BMW Group Malaysia’s uptick in sales also augured well for BMW Group Financial Services Malaysia, which financed over 42% of BMW vehicles, 45% of MINI vehicles and 60% of BMW Motorrad motorcycles sold last year.

Also, the digitalisation of customer touchpoints via BMW Engage, a first-of-its-kind online financing platform, also saw 1 out of 3 financing application being funded digitally towards the end of last year. In collaboration with Allianz General Insurance Company Malaysia Berhad, the new BMW i-Renewal service also saw 5% of owners purchase motor insurance through the online insurance platform, surpassing the current industry benchmark of 2%.

In light of the travel restrictions and social distancing measures implemented in March last year, BMW Group Malaysia quickly adapted to the changing times by also digitalising many existing touchpoints and services to enhance the premium ownership experience for customers in Malaysia. This was underlined by the introduction of the BMW Shop Online and the MINI eShop, alongside BMW Engage and BMW i-Renewal – expediting essential parts of the premium mobility experience to keep the process as seamless as possible.

The year 2020 also saw several community initiatives by BMW Group Malaysia, supporting several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including Refuge for the Refugees, Tenaganita, Empire Project, and Malaysia Muda in delivering food and basic essential aid to over 80,000 beneficiaries during the Movement Control Order (MCO) periods. The premium automaker also established its #BMWSupportsLocal initiative to support a multitude of small local businesses, which continues until today.

BMW Group Malaysia is far more than just a foreign company selling its wares in Malaysia. The group’s activities are an established part of the country’s economy and communities – from its engine assembly plant in Kedah, to its support of local arts, to various community projects and support for local SMEs.

“We remain hopeful in the recovery of the automotive landscape in Malaysia in the year 2021. As with the year 2020, BMW Group Malaysia will also continue to delight our customers and fans, ensuring the complete Premium Ownership Experience especially in the New Normal is kept to the best standards. We are ever so grateful to all our customers, employees and dealer representatives who have stood by us through the tough times and we welcome 2021 with our network of passionately-driven people.” said Hoelzl.