BMW Set to Outsell VW in U.S.


December 15, 2004

For the first time since 1993, BMW appears set to surpass Volkswagen as the top European seller in the United States.

Through November, BMW trails VW in sales by 45 units (which does not include BMW's MINI brand), while a year ago VW outsold the Bavarian automaker by 65,000 vehicles.

From Autoweek

BMW is on the verge of dethroning mass-market Volkswagen as the best-selling European brand in the United States.

BMW, helped by the debut of the X3 SUV this year, has been creeping up on VW, whose sales have collapsed in the past two years. Through November, VW was just 45 units ahead of BMW. A year ago, VW led by nearly 65,000. Figures do not include BMW AG's Mini brand.

In 11 months VW sold 234,642 vehicles in the United States. BMW's total: 234,597.

Is Volkswagen concerned?

"We absolutely compete in different segments, and so there's been no planning or discussions about how we're going to beat BMW for the year or for the month," says Volkswagen of America Inc. spokesman Steve Keyes.

VW was outsold by its German rivals only once in the United States. That was 1993, when VW stopped production in its Puebla, Mexico, plant and had little to sell. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz topped VW's paltry 49,533 U.S. sales that year.

VW's U.S. sales skyrocketed to 355,648 units in 2001 on the strength of the redesigned Jetta, Passat and hip New Beetle. But VW's long product cycles and its initial reluctance to provide incentives caught up with the brand. Its U.S. sales have been declining since 2002.

Through November, VW's U.S. sales are down 17.6 percent after falling 10.5 percent last year. Its November sales plummeted 40.5 percent vs. the year-ago month.

While VW sales continue to slide, BMW sales through November are up 6.7 percent. Mercedes sales are off 1.1 percent through November at 194,714 vehicles.