Sales of three BMW models produced in Spartanburg County — the X3, X5 and X6 — increased in August while the German automaker’s U.S. business fell 7.2 percent.
BMW of North America reported Friday it sold 30,500 vehicles during the month, compared with 32,864 during the same month a year prior.
For the year, the company has sold 239,631 vehicles, a 9.2 percent decrease compared with 263,908 during the first eight months of 2015.
“The clear trend toward Sports Activity Vehicles took a good-sized leap forward in August, as our U.S. plant again increased production and availability of the always-popular BMW X3 and X5, pushing total X model sales to 44 percent of BMW retail in the U.S. in August,” said Ludwig Willisch, president and CEO of BMW of North America, in a statement. “With the production increase, I fully expect the key SAV numbers to remain strong in the U.S. through the end of the year.”
The company said it sold 4,668 X3 units in August, a 119.5 percent increase compared with 2,127 during the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, the company said its X3 sales have increased 53.1 percent to 27,174 units, compared with 17,750 during the same period of 2015.
Sales of the X4, which is also built in Spartanburg, decreased 4.6 percent during the month to 432 units, compared with 453 during the same month of the previous year. For the first eight months of 2015, the automaker said X4 sales are down 15.7 percent to 3,375 units, compared with 4,006 during the same span of the prior year.
X5 sales jumped 47 percent during the month to 4,121 units, compared with 2,803 in August 2015. For the year, the company said sales of the X5 are down by 23.4 percent to 29,069 units, compared with 37,965 during the first eight months of the previous year.
Sales of the X6 increased by 30.9 percent to 580 units in August, compared with 443 during the same month one year ago. X6 sales for the year are down 5.7 percent to 4,520 units, compared with 4,794 during the same period of 2015.
As a whole, BMW’s light truck division sales increased 68.2 percent in August, but are still down about six-tenths of a percent for the year.
The company said its brand vehicle sales decreased 8 percent during the month and have fallen 8.3 percent so far this year.
Meanwhile, its MINI brand sales fell 2.7 percent during the past month and are down 14 percent for the year.
