Business

Saturday June 30, 2012

BMW sees 2-digit sales growth

By CHOONG EN HAN
han@thestar.com.my


PETALING JAYA: BMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd expects to maintain its sales momentum and achieve double-digit growth in sales for the rest of the year, boosted by its core models.

As of May, the company had sold a total 2,702 units, comprising 2,414 BMWs, 140 MINIs and 148 Motorrad vehicles. The sales figure represents a 17% increase from a year earlier.

“Last year, we sold 5,000 BMW cars, 300 Mini Coopers and 300 Motorrads,” said BMW Group Malaysia outgoing president Geoffrey Briscoe at the launch of the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, the company's first-ever four-door coupe. Malaysia is the first Asian country to launch the car.

Briscoe has been promoted to a new position within the group and will be succeeded in Malaysia by Gerhard Pils on July 1.

Pils (left) and Briscoe posing with the new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe. Pils says the latest model is the company’s answer to the growing market for sporty four-door coupes.

Prior to his new appointment Pils was the chief executive officer of BMW Group Austria and has 26 years' experience within the BMW group.

Pils said the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe was the company's answer to the growing market for sporty four-door coupes and was confident the new model would further boost sales in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, responding to a question on whether BMW Malaysia had stopped sending its monthly vehicle registration figures to the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), corporate communication manager Sashi Ambi said that the company was still sending its monthly data to the association.

“We still continue to send the group's data to the association. However, we don't break it down like how it was previously done,” he said.

Recently, the MAA became an unexpected victim of the Malaysian Competition Act 2010, with some of its members stopping to submit their vehicle registration to the association.

The MAA acts as the industry mouthpiece and gathers information on vehicle production and sales by make and model from member companies, which is used to gauge the industry's health.

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