BMW Group Acquires Chinese Leasing Provider

The BMW Group is strengthening its position in the growing Chinese auto market with the acquisition of Herald International Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (Herald Leasing), one of the country’s leading leasing providers. With this move, the company is responding to the increasing importance of the emerging leasing business in the world’s largest vehicle market and laying the foundation for further growth. The BMW Group has therefore agreed with investor PAG Asia Capital to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Herald Leasing. The parties have agreed not to disclose any contractual details.

Following on from the best ever first three quarters in the company’s sales history, October was another record month for BMW Group deliveries. Sales of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles totalled 191,651 for the month, an increase of 4.0% compared with the same period last year. In the first ten months of the year, total sales of BMW Group vehicles increased by 7.1% (1,836,464).

«Our sales continue to grow steadily in all regions of the world, despite ongoing volatility in some markets,» said Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing BMW. «Sales of our trend-setting BMW X models are showing particularly good growth in a competitive environment and the new BMW X1 is in extremely high demand. Customers around the world are responding very positively to the new BMW 7 Series, which has also just arrived in the showrooms, so we are expecting to see additional momentum going towards the end of the year,» he continued.

BMW brand sales increased by 6.3% in October, with a total of 164,915 vehicles sold to customers in the month. Deliveries in the first ten months of the year rose 5.8% compared to the same period last year, with a total of 1,560,697 BMW brand vehicles sold.

Sales of the MINI brand continue to grow year-on-year, with a total of 272,819 vehicles delivered to customers around the world in the first ten months, an increase of 15.4%.

Sales volume in the Americas continues to increase steadily; a total of 402,276 BMW and MINI vehicles have been delivered to customers in the region so far this year, an increase of 5.6%. In the USA, sales in the first ten months of 2015 totalled 328,456, up 5.4%. Customer deliveries in Canada over the same period rose 10.0% (34,937) while Mexico achieved a sales increase of 18.7% (14,148).

The strong sales momentum at BMW Motorrad continued in October with a total of 9,211 units sold in the month, an increase of 4.3% compared with the same month last year. In the first ten months of the year, 121,622 customers around the world took delivery of a BMW Motorrad vehicle, up 11.5% on the same period last year.

(Featured Image: Toni Garn GQ Men of the Year 2015 at Komische Oper in Berlin)