Midrand. BMW South Africa has maintained its leading position as South Africa’s top selling luxury car brand for 2014. This comes after the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) vehicle sales results released last week.
This is the fifth consecutive year (8 years out of 10) that BMW has demonstrated its ability to remain the leader in the premium segment. When BMW results are combined with MINI sales figures in 2014, more than one in every three luxury cars sold was from the BMW Group.
he NAAMSA figures showed that a total of 26, 647 BMW Group units were registered in 2014 (previous year: 27, 671 / -1.1%).
| BMW Group South Africa NAAMSA Registrations* | |||
| 201 4 | 2013 | Variance (%) | |
| BMW | 24 521 | 24 793 | -1.1% |
| MINI | 2 126 | 2 878 | -26.1% |
| 26 647 | 27 671 | -3.7% |
*Registration figures according to NAAMSA results released on 7 January 2015.
“The motor industry is a key sector for the South African economy. With this in mind, the BMW Group remains committed to transparency and will continue to report registration figures to NAAMSA. These figures are a credible and valued barometer for the state of the economy and we hope that all competitors will be able to continue contributing to these results to show a true reflection of the state of the local motor industry,” says Mr Tim Abbott, Managing Director of BMW South Africa.
“Although 2014 was an economically challenging year, we are proud and excited to remain South Africa’s leading provider of premium products and services. We can attribute our overall performance in 2014 to the steady performance of our core models such as the BMW 3 Series Sedan, 1 Series hatch, X5 and X3. In addition to this, our new models with innovative and groundbreaking technologies and services have consistently met the demands of our customers,” says Abbott.
Some of these new models included the new BMW X4, 4 Series Gran Coupé, 4 Series Convertible, M3 Sedan, M4 Coupé, the refreshed X3 as well as the new MINI Hatch, MINI 5-Door and the refreshed MINI Countryman and Paceman.
The company has also won a number of awards in 2014 including being named the Coolest Car Brand and Coolest Brand Overall in the Sunday Times Generation Next Survey and scooping the title in the “Sport Coupés: Two-Door Hard Tops” category in the Standard Bank People’s Wheels Awards for its BMW 2 Series Coupé. In addition, the new BMW M4 Coupé was named a finalist for the 2015 Wesbank / SAGMJ Car of The Year Award. The winner will be announced on March 18, 2015.
“Looking ahead, 2015 will be a watershed year for us for a new era – the era of sustainable mobility – when we launch the innovative BMW i3 and i8 models in South Africa. Whilst economic and political conditions may change the overall outlook for growth in 2015, we are confident that other new models will stand us in good stead and contribute to our success,” Abbott adds.
The new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, 2 Series Convertible, X6, X6 M, X5M, the refreshed 6 Series model range and the new MINI John Cooper Works are all set to be launched in South Africa this year.
“The brand continuously faces new challenges and initiates outstanding solutions – constantly setting new standards for the luxury car market and the automobile industry as a whole. We can now be confident about exceeding our targets in 2015 to reinforce our position as South Africa’s most sustainable and premium car manufacturer,” Abbott concludes.
