UAE’s love affair with the BMW and Mini goes on unabated – sales of BMW Group models totalled 3,223 units in the first quarter and made up 51 per cent of the total delivered across the GCC. Abu Dhabi was the pioneering market with 1,906 units.
In 2012, just under 9,000 units were sold in the UAE, for a 47 per cent share of the regional tally.
“A combination of factors helped – having the right products, constant upgrades to the after-market operations and, most important, building on the consumer confidence from a stable economy,” said Osman Abdel moneim, general manager at AGMC, the BMW importer for Dubai and northern emirates.
Most tellingly, the top-of-the-line models accounted for a majority of BMW sales. In AGMC’s case, the 5-, 6- and 7-Series models as well as the X5 and X6 sports activity coupe made up 70 per cent of the 1,168 models sold. Dubai also pulled in the maximum number of Mini sales, with 149 units, across the region.
The upbeat tone for the first quarter will only be the appetizer in BMW’s grand scheme of things. The Z4 roadster, with an extensive facelift, will be out soon, while the latter half of the year will see back to back launches. Included will be the all-new X5, during the fourth quarter and which has consistently been an in-demand model in the region since the introduction in the early part of the last decade.
A brand new digit will also make an appearance, the 4-Series coupe. Images have just been making the rounds, though that has been enough of an incentive for some UAE buyers to put up a deposit. Prices have yet to be finalized for the model, which is due to arrive here late in the third quarter.
In June, there will be the M6 Gran coupe, which can belt out 560-hp from a 4.4-litre turbocharged eight cylinder. Also finding a place in the launch calendar is the 3-Series GT.
“This would make for an extremely interesting second-half and ensures there is a new model being phased into the line-up at regular intervals,” Abdel-moneim added.
Across the region, BMW Group had a 28 per cent growth in sales over 2012’s first-quarter tally – 6,303 BMW and Mini units were sold in 13 markets. Last year it tallied 18,657 units.
