BMW grabs 67% of luxury car market in H1

BMW Philippines Corp. president Mark Gilbert said yesterday that BMW Phils. continued to strengthen its hold on the local luxury car market, outperforming its close rivals Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Audi in terms of sales.

Based on statistics from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI), Gilbert said that BMW accounted for 66.5 percent of the "plus segment" or luxury car market during the first half of the year.

BMW sold 401 units in the first half of the year, a sharp 138 percent increase from only 168 units in the same period last year.

BMW’s closest competitor was Volvo with 148 units sold during the review period, or an increase of 60.4 percent from last year’s sales of 91 units.

On the other hand, other luxury car makers Mercedez Benz incurred a decline of 37.8 percent with sales of only 28 units in the six-month period. Audi also reported a drop of 46.9 percent with only 17 units sold compared to last year’s 32 units.

To further prove its commitment to the local market, Gilbert said BMW has unveiled its luxurious 745Li model despite the still low sales compared to its regional counterparts.

With a price tag of close to P12 million for its fully-loaded 745Li model, BMW is making sure that it can offer its A list of clients a model which would not normally be available locally.

"In fact, we only expect to sell only a couple of units of the 745 Li," Gilbert said. – Marianne Go