BMW had a good start of the year in the United States where demand went up by 2.4% through March compared to the first three months of 2023. The two worst-selling products in the company’s vast portfolio are off to a decent start since Z4 deliveries grew by 1.3% to 403 units while those XM increased by 32.3% to 541 units.
To be fair, the plug-in hybrid dedicated M model with love/hate styling wasn’t available for the full first quarter of 2023 in the US so the comparison isn’t entirely accurate. Speaking of SUVs, we’re surprised by the drop in demand for the X5, which suffered a sales decline of 13.8% to 14,923 units. That’s despite the fact the luxobarge went through a Life Cycle Impulse last year that avoided the controversial styling changes seen on the larger X7 with its split headlights.
Even though it’s getting up there in years, the X3 was the most popular BMW in Q1 2024. Although the posh crossover is months away from being replaced by the next-generation “G45” model, the outgoing “G01” enjoyed a hike in demand of 9.1% to 16,488 units. Americans only get the sDrive30i, xDrive40i, M40i, and the X3 M whereas the global lineup has several diesels (including a hot M40d), a plug-in hybrid (xDrive30e), and the fully electric iX3.
Ahead of an LCI likely planned for 2025, the big iX electric SUV is up significantly through March, with deliveries increasing by 25.3% to 2,945 units. You’ll also notice a huge jump percentage-wise for the X2, but that colossal 617.9% only amounts to 560 vehicles over just 78 units sold in Q1 2023. BMW ended production of the first-gen model (“F39”) in October 2022, so the original crossover was already gone from the lineup in early 2023.
As one would expect, the “X” models were far more popular than cars (45,774 vs 38,701) even though demand for the crossovers and SUVs suffered a 2% decline while cars were up by 8.2%. BMW still lists the 6 Series Gran Turismo for whatever reason, even though the oddball large hatchback died in the US in 2020. The 6er is still on sale in India where it’s locally assembled.
And yes, BMW USA somehow sold an i3 this year.
Source: BMW