Fascinatingly, the BMW Group cracked the list of South Africa’s top 10 automakers in June 2024, unceremoniously shoving Renault out of the top 10 (and finishing ahead of the likes of Mahindra and Kia, too). Despite a 14% year-on-year decline in the total market, the German firm reported 1 104 registrations last month, a figure that includes local sales from the Mini brand.
But which models drove this volume for the Munich-based automaker’s local division – and thus its return to the top 10? Well, with BMW Group South Africa reporting figures to Naamsa quarterly (in line with what the industry representative body terms the German brand’s “global directive”), we’ve managed to lay our greasy paws on individual model-sales statistics for June 2024.
For the record, 726 units or 65.8% of the total figure of 1 104 units represented sales via the dealer channel, while as many as 207 units or 18.8% were reported as single registrations (that is, vehicles the manufacturer has registered and kept for its own use). Without the latter figure, the BMW Group wouldn’t have made 4 figures. A further 130 units were sold to the country’s vehicle-rental industry, while 41 units represented sales to Mzansi’s government.
Last month, the X1 was the BMW Group’s best-selling nameplate locally, with 208 units registered. However, the locally manufactured X3 (203 units) wasn’t far behind, while the 2 Series (162 units) completed the podium. Next came the 3 Series sedan (135 units), followed by the X5 (77 units), Mini Countryman (61 units) and 1 Series hatchback (49 units).
The X4 managed 32 registrations, finishing just ahead of the 4 Series (31 units) and X2 (31 units). Then came the X7 (27 units), followed by the Mini Hatch 3-Door (25 units), X6 (17 units), 5 Series sedan (12 units) and 7 Series sedan (12 units). Models that failed to make it out of single figures in June included the fully electric i4 (6 units), the XM plug-in hybrid (5 units), the battery-powered i5 (4 units), the 8 Series (2 units), the electric iX (2 units), the Mini Hatch 5-Door (2 units) and the Mini Clubman (1 unit).
As an aside, BMW Group South Africa also exported 6 235 units of the Rosslyn-built X3 in June 2024. Like the outgoing model, the recently revealed G45-generation X3 will be produced here in South Africa following a R4.2-billion investment, with local sales scheduled to commence in the final quarter of 2024. Rosslyn will be the only plant worldwide manufacturing the X3 30e xDrive plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) derivative.