[stressdoc]

BMW GROUP REPORTS 11 PERCENT INCREASE IN FIRST QUARTER SALES
04/03/2006

BMW Brand Sales Jump 14 Percent Year-To-Date

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - April 3, 2006... The BMW Group (BMW and MINI brands combined) reported year-to-date sales of 72,588 vehicles, an 11 percent increase over the 65,536 sold in the first quarter of 2005. The BMW Group also reported an increase of 17 percent in March sales, for 28,352 vehicles over the 24,276 vehicles reported in March 2005.

BMW Brand Reports Sales
Year-to-date, sales of BMW brand vehicles were up 14 percent, as the company reported sales of 63,103 vehicles compared to 55,352 vehicles sold in first quarter of 2005.

March sales jumped 22 percent for a total of 24,501 vehicles compared to 20,149 reported last March.

BMW Automobile Sales
BMW's automobile sales rose 31 percent in March, to 18,966 versus 14,475 in the same month a year ago. First quarter sales were up 23 percent, to 49,884 automobiles compared to 40,427 in the first three months of 2005.

Model March Year-to-Date March Year-to-Date
2006 2006 2005 2005

325i (E90 & E46) 4,181 12,026 2,704 9,105
325Ci 346 858 396 1,035
325Ci convertible 454 1,018 673 1,499
325i sports wagon 0 4 64 231
325xi (E90 & E46) 1,355 4,296 552 2,106
325xi sports wagon (E90 & E46) 232 611 68 275
330i (E90 & E46) 1,526 3,999 965 2,638
330Ci 202 532 240 710
330Ci convertible 481 1,108 556 1,207
330xi (E90 & E46) 894 2,430 735 1,580
M3 273 562 402 929
M3 convertible 149 335 200 454
3 Series 10,093 27,779 7,555 21,769

Of some interest, the biggest increase is in the E91 sports wagon sales (232 vs. 132 for March 06 vs. 05), which have almost doubled in spite of only having an xi version. Maybe the USA is starting to catch on to the Euro market.

[vladinecko]

i don't know, i really don't want many people to have the same car as i do. i don't want it to become another corolla or civic. especially here in pittsburgh, E90s are very rare to see which kind makes me feel good. there are a lot of bimmers here but it's far from, let's say, SF area where kids get the cars for their 16th birthday.

[EnI]

Let's do it again.

Lexus IS sales:

March 2006: 5,210 +1,086.8% ... 1,389 of IS350; 3,821 of IS250
YTD 2006: 13,165 +897.3%

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2006,+02:23+PM


BMW 3-series sedan sales:

March 2006: 7,956 +60.5% ... 2,420 of 330(x)i (1,526 of 330i; 894 of 330xi); 5,536 of 325(x)i
YTD 2006: 22,751 +47.5%

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2006,+01:14+PM


March 2006 ratio:

BMW 3er sedan : Lexus IS
7,956 : 5,210
1.53 : 1


But let's put both sales numbers on comparable base:
5th full month of sales ratio:

BMW 3er sedan (Nov 2005) : Lexus IS (March 2006)
8,884 : 5,210
1,71 : 1


Let me remind you:

Originally Posted by GregA

If you compare IS' 1st full month sales (Nov 2005), and 3er E90 Sedan's 1st full month sales (June 2005), you'll see the interesting difference:

3er: 6,486
IS: 4,447

The ratio is 1.46 : 1

And then take the IS in its 4th full month (Feb 2006), and 3er E90 sedan in its 4th full month (Sept 2005):

3er: 6,523
IS: 3,882

The ratio is 1.68 : 1

The ratio between 3er sedan sold and IS sold - on comparable base - is still increasing (from 1.68 in February to 1.71 in March 2006) , not decreasing. Meaning IS is not catching the 3er sedan, but the opposite: the 3er sedan is increasing the advantage over IS.