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BMW production in Beijing: In China, the carmaker sold around 230,000 cars in the first quarter - that's almost as many as in all of Europe
Photo: Pan Yulong / imago images / Xinhua
BMW again sold more cars in the first quarter than before the Corona crisis.
As the automaker announced in Munich on Thursday, it sold 636,600 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars worldwide from January to the end of March - that was 5 percent more than in the first quarter of 2019 and 33.5 percent more than in the first Quarter of 2020. The decisive factor for this was the enormous demand in Asia.
Sales Manager Pieter Nota said: "This record sales underscores our ambitious growth targets for this year."
BMW sold around 230,000 cars in China - a good 60,000 more than in the first quarter of 2019 and almost as many as in Europe as a whole.
In Asia as a whole, the group also achieved a record with 287,000 vehicles sold.
Record sales in China, backlog in Europe
In Europe, the group delivered 239,000 cars in the first quarter - fewer than before the Corona crisis, but 8 percent more than in the first quarter of the previous year.
The corona lockdowns began here at the end of March.
Factories and dealerships were closed.
In the USA, sales from January to the end of March amounted to 78,000 vehicles, 17 percent above the same quarter of the previous year, but also did not yet reach the pre-Corona level.
Sales of electric and hybrid cars doubled
The BMW Group was able to double its sales of electrified vehicles to 70,200 hybrid and e-cars compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Nota said: "We are on track to deliver more than 100,000 fully electric vehicles by the end of this year and to have a total of at least one million electrified vehicles on the road."
la / dpa