Financial Quarter Archives

Surge in demand for BMW electrified vehicles

The BMW Group, which is comprised of the BMW, BMW Motorrad, MINI and Rolls Royce brands, has announced its recent sales figures. And based on these numbers, we can say that the Bavarian automaker has had a decent run so far.

Compared to the same period last year, the company has managed to sell 1,401,551 vehicles in the first seven months of 2017. This is a 4.3% increase compared to the previous year and in July’17 alone, sales increased by 0.4%.

Speaking of the achievement, Dr Ian Robertson, Management Board Member for Sales and Brand BMW, said, “Following a record first half-year, our sales in July remain at a very high level, with profitability our primary focus.”

He added, “Despite continuing headwinds in the USA, as well as the model changeover of the BMW X3 and the BMW 5 Series in China, we were still able to achieve last year’s high sales levels, due to our policy of balanced global sales growth.”

July also happens to be a great month for the sales of BMW’s electrified vehicles. And since the beginning of the year the company was able to deliver more than 50,000 BMW i, BMW iPerformance and electrified MINI vehicles. This is a 74.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

Currently, there are total of nine electrified vehicles that are made by BMW. This product portfolio and the fact that it has sold a record number of such vehicle this year has made the automaker the 3rd biggest BEV/PHEV manufacturer in the world.

Supporting this notion is the fact that the i3 has been the company’s best selling compact battery-electric vehicle in the premium segment since 2014. These figures are expected to improve even further as car buyers around the world begin to embrace electrified vehicles as the future of personal mobility.

That said, we shall have to wait and see if these sales figures are affected in anyway by the introduction of Tesla’s affordable family sedan – the Model 3. Touted as the affordable Model S, Tesla hopes to reach a much larger customer base with this relatively inexpensive yet premium EV.

Porsche achieves new record this year

Porsche has exceeded its own expectations this year by achieving increased revenue, number of employees and vehicle deliveries compared to the same period last year. Its profit margin grew from 16.7% to 17.6%, operating results increased by 8% and revenue increased by 2% to EUR 5.5 billion (RM 26.1 billion).

This year, Porsche managed to sell more vehicles than it did during the same period last year by reporting a 7% increase which equates to 59,689 vehicles. During the same time, the German automaker’s workforce grew by 13% to a total of 28,249 employees.

Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche AG, Lutz Meschke, said, “This exceptionally good result is a seamless continuation of our record year in 2016, and we have once again exceeded an already high level.”

The automaker attributed much of its success this year to the attractive pricing of its vehicles, which include the Panamera. The most popular of its variants where the plug-in hybrid and the Sport Turismo. Porsche is also adamant that the addition of electric propulsion vehicles in its product portfolio has not taken anything away anything from the spirit and principles of the company. Any vehicle that bears the Porsche badge, will offer the best performance and handling characteristics that it has to offer. An electric or hybrid Porsche will be able to utilize the best technology available to deliver peak performance to drivers as and when needed.

The Stuttgart based automaker expects to see moderate growth in revenue and vehicle delivers this year provided that the foreign exchange rates remain stable. Porsche says that it requires at least a 15% profit margin to maintain its current running costs and position as one of the most profitable automotive manufacturers in the world.

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