'Following on from the best first quarter in the company’s history, we have just reported our most successful April sales ever. We are well on course to achieving a record year in 2012. We are clearly benefitting from a very attractive product line-up which is finding success with customers right across the globe. This momentum will continue as we add new vehicles throughout the year, such as the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé in June,' said Ian Robertson (Inset), Member of the Board of Management, Sales and Marketing BMW.

The BMW Group made strong gains in nearly all regions and in many markets in the month under review. Sales continued to grow dynamically in Asia with 39,770 vehicles delivered (2011: 31,803/ +25.1%). China accounted for 27,197 deliveries, an increase of 30.8% over the same month last year (2011: 20,800) in China. Sales were solid across America with 32,705 vehicles delivered in April (2011: 31,491/ +3.9%). In the U.S., 26,793 vehicles were delivered in April which reflects an increase of +6.1% over the same month last year (2011: 25,247).

In Europe, sales remained at last year’s level with 68,033 vehicles sold (2011: 69,409/ -2.0%). Several markets in northern and central Europe attained healthy growth in April, for example the Netherlands (2,100/ +29.0%), France (5,150/ +9.2%) and Austria (2,057/ +9.4%). In Germany, a total of 27,192 new BMW and MINI vehicles were registered in April, an increase of +6.2% over last year (2011: 25,600). The BMW brand accounted for 23,420 registrations (2011: 21,866/ +7.1%) and MINI for 3,772 registrations (2011: 3,734/ +1.0%).

Worldwide sales of BMW brand vehicles climbed to 121,476 (2011: 113,090 / +7.4%) in the month under review. The brand has delivered a total of 478,030 (2011: 434,270) vehicles to customers worldwide since the start of the year – an increase of 10.1%. At the end of April, the BMW 1 Series, the X1, the BMW 3 Series Sedan and Convertible, the BMW 5 Series, the BMW X5 and the BMW 6 Series were all strong performers in their respective segments. Demand for the BMW 1 Series 5-door Hatch remains strong with 14,551 vehicles delivered in April, an increase of 68.3% over the same month last year. The BMW 3 Series Sedan also reported strong gains in April with a total of 24,006 vehicles delivered to customers, an increase of 26.3% compared to last year (2011: 19,010). Sales of the BMW X3 continued to climb, with 12,229 units sold in April, an increase of 23.5% over the previous year (9,903). Growth was further driven by the BMW 6 Series which was delivered to 1,561 customers worldwide in April (2011: 702/ +122.4%).

With 23,789 vehicles delivered in April, worldwide sales for MINI remained at last year’s level (2011: 23,839/ -0.2%). In the month under review, MINI achieved strong growth in several European countries such as France (1,569/ +22.2%) and Italy (1,652/ +13.9%), however there was lower demand in southern European countries such as Spain and Portugal. The brand also experienced dynamic growth in Asia, such as in Japan (1,353/ +32.4%), China (1,905/ +36.1%) and Korea (450/ +50.0%). The new MINI Roadster has had an excellent start with nearly 2000 units (1,976) already delivered to customers since its launch at the end of February. Year-to-date, MINI sales are up +8.6% with 92,000 units compared to 84,699 in the first four months of 2011.