I misplaced this art. & forgot to toss it up here, last week.
Decent read on BMW's general sales goals & other car mfg'ers
are ref'd, too; it will be very interesting to see the new E70 unit
sales about this time next year.
BR,mD

December 8, 2006


BMW Is on Track to Keep Top Slot
In Auto Sales' Premium Category

By STEVE MCGRATH and CHRISTOPH RAUWALD
December 8, 2006; Page A12

LONDON -- BMW AG is set to retain its crown as the world's biggest premium car maker by sales in 2006 after its sales figures narrowly bested those of rival Mercedes-Benz in November.

BMW overtook DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes premium brand as the world's leading premium car maker last year as sales of its 3- and 5-series cars raced ahead while Mercedes-Benz was forced to sort out quality problems with some of its models.
Mercedes has staged a comeback this year, driven by sales of its revamped B-Class, M-Class and flagship S-Class models, but BMW still has managed to stay ahead.

BMW Group yesterday posted a 0.3% rise in global deliveries in November to 114,321 vehicles. In the first 11 months of the year, deliveries -- which mirror sales -- rose 2.8% to 1.24 million cars. The company said the biggest growth in November was in Asia, led by sales in China.

"This year, in spite of the model changes for the Mini, BMW X5 and BMW 3-Series Coupe, we have set the ambitious goal to achieve a new sales record again. We will meet this goal and thus remain the world's leading supplier of premium automobiles," BMW executive board member Michael Ganal said.

The BMW brand's deliveries rose 2.1% in November to 100,834 cars and posted a 4.9% year-to-date rise to 1.07 million cars.
Late Wednesday, the Mercedes Car Group division reported a 5.3% rise in global car deliveries to 110,800 vehicles in November from 105,200 vehicles last year. From January to November, world-wide deliveries of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart brand cars rose 4.8% to a record 1.15 million vehicles.

The premium Mercedes-Benz brand posted a 9% rise in November to 101,900 cars, contributing to an increase of 8.4% in the first 11 months of the year to 1.04 million cars.

Elsewhere in the sector, Volkswagen AG said deliveries of its premium Audi brand rose 8.1% in November to 75,250 vehicles, while 11-month deliveries were up 8.7% to 833,000 cars.
Ralph Weyler, the Audi board member responsible for marketing and sales, said the company aims to sell 900,000 vehicles world-wide, reiterating the company's full-year target, raised from 890,000 last month.
For VW as a whole, sales rose 9.9% from a year earlier in the first 11 months of 2006 to more than 5.2 million vehicles. Europe's biggest car maker by sales said it had matched its sales figure for all of 2005 by the end of November this year and had significantly outpaced the 2.5% growth in the global auto market.

Also yesterday, General Motors Corp.'s European division said sales in November rose 4.8% from a year earlier to 165,842 vehicles, giving it a market share in the region of 9.3%. In the first 11 months of 2006, GM Europe's sales rose by 17,102 vehicles to 1.85 million.
GM said it has sold a record number of cars this year in Russia, a country it has targeted for growth. GM's Russian sales rose 72% to 117,745 vehicles in the first 11 months.
Its premium Saab brand has sold a record number of cars in Europe this year and is on track to set a global sales record in 2006, GM said. Saab's sales in Europe rose 11% to 82,915 cars in the first 11 months and 6% globally to 121,312 vehicles.