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BMW Sedans Surprisingly Outperform SUVs During August Sales

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In a major subversion of recent automotive trends, BMW's sedan sales were up by 6.2%, while its SUV sales were down by 30.2%

BMW’s sedans raced past its SUVs in terms of sales for August

So far this year, BMW has experienced the same sales trend as the rest of the automotive industry: a rise in popularity for utility vehicles. Nevertheless, that all changed for BMW last month. While BMW’s light truck sales were down 30.2% in August, its passenger car sales were up 6.2%.

This change in fortune is nearly reverse of what BMW has experienced during the rest of 2017. So far this year, light truck sales are up 4.6%, while passenger car sales are down 9.3%. Some of last month’s success can be accredited to the BMW 4 Series and 5 Series. Both of these BMW sedans performed extremely well in August. 4 Series sales were up by 49.3%, with a total of 3,412 vehicles sold. Even more 5 Series sedans were sold, with 3,587 units purchased and a sales increase of 37.6%.

2016 BMW X1 photos turning exterior beach

The BMW X1 was one major SUV success for BMW last month

Overall, BMW sold 16,708 passenger cars in August. This is by and large a better performance than the light truck segment, which only had 6,845 purchases. Still, the BMW X1 managed to do well last month. X1 sales increased 39% in August for a total of 2,002 units sold, nearly a third of the total SUVs that BMW sold last month. With the two segments combined, BMW sold a total of 23,553 vehicles for August. Compared to the 25,531 vehicles it sold in August of 2016, this accounts for a 7.7% decrease in sales.

Meanwhile, MINI sales continued to decline for 2017. MINI sold 4,448 vehicles last month, a 10.5% sales decline from a year prior. The BMW brand has a year to date sales decline of 5%, while the BMW company as a whole has a 5.8% sales decline when MINI is included. Auto analysts will have to wait until September to see whether this demand for sedans is the sign of a growing trend or just an anomaly.

Until then, here is a detailed chart for BMW’s August sales:

BMW August 2017 Sales