Struggling BMW blames supply-chain issues even as luxury car sales flourish

BMW's sales for the quarter (January-March) were down 14 per cent year-on-year as the company sold 2,268 units

As BMW's sales figures plummeted in the first quarter of this year, the company became the only luxury carmaker to have registered a decline in sales, The Times of India (TOI) reported. This comes at a time when the luxury segment has registered a growth of 15 per cent. Other companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Tata-owned Jaguar and Land Rover posted healthy growth during the same time, the TOI report said.

Data available on the government's retail sales tracker Vahan suggested that the luxury car segment has shown no signs of weakness so far. Notably, after the industry moved 38 per cent upwards in 2022, there have been apprehensions that the market may begin to slow down, the report added.

BMW's sales for the quarter (January-March) were down 14 per cent year-on-year (YoY) as the company sold 2,268 units. Sales of the MINI brand of cars were also down during January-March 2023, they were down four per cent and sold 172 units.

Elaborating on the downfall in sales, BMW blamed supply chain issues for the unfavourable numbers, TOI reported. A BMW spokesperson was quoted in the report as saying, "The year-to-date order bank is showing a very aggressive and strong build-up. This is a good reflection of consumer sentiment."

As BMW sales dwindled, Mercedes-Benz registered a 23 per cent growth during the January-March quarter at 4,179 units compared with 3,398 units last year.

Audi's sales, though small, have seen growth. The first quarter saw a growth of 126 per cent on sales of 1,952 cars against 862 cars in the same period of 2022.