Ongoing challenges in the global automotive markets resulted in a decrease in sales at the BMW Group in January. In the month under review the Group sold 70,405 (prev.yr.: 92,849) vehicles of its three automobile brands, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce - 24.2% fewer than in January 2008.

In the first month of the new year the BMW brand reported 60,248 (prev.yr.: 77,351) deliveries - 22.1% lower than for the same period last year. In the month under review 10,120 (prev.yr.: 15,457 / -34,5%) customers bought a Mini brand vehicle.

The Mini sales reduction was in part due to the lack of availability of the Mini Convertible which ended production in mid 2008 with the new model launch scheduled for March 28th. The previous model accounted for a substantial share of total Mini retail, averaging 16% of sales. More than 164,000 of MINI's soft-top models were sold between 2004 and 2008, which by far exceeded expectations. In January Rolls-Royce handed over 37 automobiles to customers (prev.yr.: 41 / -9.8%).

Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing: "Current market conditions remain extremely challenging. However, our Efficient Dynamics strategy is expected to continue to provide momentum for the BMW Group with more and more European countries moving towards CO2-based vehicle taxes. No other manufacturer reduced its fleet's CO2 emissions more than the BMW Group last year."

Deliveries of the BMW 7 Series continue to do well as a result of the European market launch of the new model. With 2,498 units sold, 5.1% more vehicles were delivered in January than in the same month last year. Sales of BMW's flagship are expected to get another strong boost when the Series is also launched in China (in late January) and the United States (in mid-March). These markets accounted for more than 50% of the previous model's total retail. Demand for the BMW X6 also continues to be strong, with 2,846 deliveries, as well as for the new BMW 1 Series Coupé, which saw a major increase in sales (+81.6%) to 1,295 (prev.yr.: 713) units.

BMW Motorrad started the year well. Against the overall negative market trend, BMW Motorrad exceeded the previous year's sales (prev.yr.: 3,689/ +1,1%) for January with 3,731 units sold. This was largely due to continued strong demand for the F 650 GS and F 800 GS two-cylinder motorcycles which were introduced during the course of last year. The company expects to receive a further boost from the launch of the revised K models K1300R, K1300S and K1300GT on the market in February.

BMW Group sales in January 2009 at a glance
In January 2009 Compared with previous year
BMW Group Automobiles 70,405 -24.2%
BMW 60,248 -22.1%
MINI 10,120 -34.5%
Rolls-Royce 37 -9.8%
BMW Motorcycles 3,731 +1.1%