Electric Cars From BMW To Puncak, Controls German Premium Car Sales

Interior BMW iX1 eDrive20. (Doc. BMW Group)

JAKARTA - BMW came out as the winner of the most sales among German premium car manufacturers in the first half of this year. A Reuters report, July 10, said BMW recorded the strongest sales growth compared to competitors such as Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

BMW's advantage was achieved thanks to a significant spike in sales of their electric cars. BMW's electric car sales jumped 34 percent to nearly 180,000 units, while total sales rose 2.3 percent to nearly 1.1 million vehicles. Compared to Mercedes-Benz, whose sales fell 6 percent to 960,000 units. Mercedes-Benz' electric car sales were only half of BMW, which was 93,400 units, and fell 17 percent compared to last year.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the slowdown in the increase in electric car production in the main market is one of the factors for the decline in sales. In addition, they also focus on healthy growth amid intense competition and the large number of manufacturers offering large discounts for electric cars.

The downward trend in sales was also experienced by Porsche and Audi. Porsche's sales fell 7 percent to 155,900 units, with the worst decline occurring in China reaching a third. Meanwhile, Audi's sales fell 8 percent to 833,000 units, with an increase in electric car sales of only 1.3 percent.

Analysts predict Porsche's performance will improve in the second quarter. This is driven by the availability of their higher premium models, so it is estimated that Porsche's profit margin can still be as estimated at 15 percent to 17 percent.