SUVs boost BMW's vehicle sales in August

The BMW Group's vehicle sales increased year-on-year by 4.4 percent to a total of around 181,000 vehicles in August, the German luxury car maker announced on Monday.

The biggest driver of growth was BMW's sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment. Sales of the company's X models increased by more than one third and accounted for more than 40 percent of BMW's total car sales.

"Our new X models are very popular with customers," commented Pieter Nota, BMW's Management Board member responsible for customers, brands and sales.

During the first eight months of 2019, BMW sold around 1.6 million vehicles, increasing sales by 1.3 percent in a "volatile global market environment," according to the company.

In the Chinese mainland, BMW's largest single market, the company sold around 59,000 vehicles in August, marking an increase of 10.1 percent.Over the first eight months of 2019, the growth of BMW sales was even higher.

In Europe, BMW's X series is catching up. A total of 79,000 X3 vehicles and 68,000 X1 vehicles were sold there, according to BMW.

"We still expect to achieve a slight increase in sales for the full year, even though the global market environment continues to be highly competitive and volatile," said Nota.

While BMW's total vehicle sales increased, its electric vehicle business declined by 3 percent compared to the same month last year to a total of just under 11,000 vehicles.

During the first eight months of 2019, BMW's sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) even declined by 7 percent year-on-year.

BMW aims to sell half a million electric vehicles by the end of 2019 and plans to offer 25 electric vehicle models by 2023, more than half of which are set to be fully electric.