The year that has just ended marked another milestone in the history of the BMW Group's activities in Italy, which - underlined Massimiliano Di Silvestre, president and CEO of BMW Italia during a conference at the House of BMW in Milan - "is a market that has also played a role in the Group's overall results".
In fact, Di Silvestre underlined that "BMW Italia has recorded the best growth performance in Europe and the second in the world for the BMW brand". In 2023, the BMW Group sold 79,283 units in Italy adding the BMW and Mini brands, an increase of 21.45% compared to the previous year.
The BMW brand alone, with 60,529 registrations, recorded a growth of 27.6% compared to 2022 and confirmed its leadership in the premium segment compared to traditional competitors. BMW grew both in terms of market share (+0.2%) and segment share (+0.9% to 25.1%).
"I like to remind you," said Di Silvestre, "that also in 2023, with the BMW brand, we continued the upselling process towards the highest and most profitable segments of the market.
The 3 Series, 4 Series, X3 and X4 performed excellently and won the challenge against their rivals in their respective segments.
Leadership also for the 7 Series in the long-wheelbase luxury sedan segment and for the X7 among the top-of-the-range sport activity vehicles."
The president and CEO of BMW Italia expressed great satisfaction with the M brand, with which "we have definitely raised the bar of performance, reaching 1,076 units sold, which represents an increase of 97% compared to 2022. This is thanks to the launch of products such as the BMW M3 Touring, XM and M2. In 2024, thanks to the full availability of the M2 and the launch of the M5 sedan and Touring, we aim to return to market leadership."
"Excellent performance," said Di Silvestre, "which starts from an important work on positioning the brand on the market, from a strong customer orientation and from the desire to fascinate new customers". The president and CEO of BMW Italia recalled the more than 120 events held by BMW Italia in 2023, in addition to those of the partner network. "The BMW M Town Tour involved 35 dealers over 41 stages."
"And then there is the M2CS Racing Cup championship, the participation in the Gran Turismo championship with the victory of the BMW M4 GT3, the partnership with AC Milan, our commitment to the world of tennis, to golf with the edition of the Ryder Cup in Rome where we have been committed as privileged partners. Then there is our Excellence Club with over a thousand customers who own cars from the high segments of the market and the House of BMW with 120 events and over 120 thousand visitors".
The results achieved in Italy by Mini were also positive, in a year marked by the end of the life cycle of the current product range and - reiterated Di Silvestre - "by the preparation for the new retail agency model built together with our partners". Mini registered 18,756 units, up 5.1% year-on-year, with the Countryman being the most popular model among Italian customers.
"On the other hand, the reduced availability of the product penalized Mini's performance in the electric market. However, thanks to the launch of the new models from February of this year, with important innovations in the field of electric mobility, we are sure that Mini will play a leading role during 2024".
The new Mini family will be launched in the market during 2024, including the all-electric models Mini Countryman SE and Mini Countryman E, Mini Cooper SE and Mini Cooper E. "But both Mini Cooper and Mini Countryman will also be available with internal combustion engines." However, Di Silvestre reiterated that "the new Mini Aceman, a five-seat compact crossover that is yet to be revealed, will be fully electric".
"In the face of these results, allow me to say that not only was the 2023 business positive for BMW Italia, but that the entire sales network closed the year, as had already been the case in 2022, with all partners in the balance sheet." This is a very significant and very important figure for us." Di Silvestre stressed that "starting from this central strategy, BMW Italia's Italian touch will qualify our approach to the market also in 2024. We are exploring new collaborations with brands across luxury that can complement the experiences we dedicate to our customers."
"For 2024 we have a growth plan for all our brands, both in terms of quality and quantity, thanks to a solid central strategy and the launches of new models in all forms of engines, all of which are highly efficient."
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