By Nick Syn

IN ISSUE 30 CarBuyer ran a story on some of the more popular topics that had been setting industry tongues wagging. One of these was how successful the new BMW 3 Series has so far been. Based on the relative absence then of the new 3 on Singapore roads, industry bosses had earlier speculated that the model wasn’t doing as well as expected.

In response, BMW said that deliveries of the new 3 would only significantly start in June, and there would be a consequent delay in translating orders to new car registrations. Citing BMW’s performance over the last two months, a spokesperson called the remarks made by industry bosses, “wishful thinking.”

148 units of the 3 Series were registered in June this year alone. The total number of BMW cars sold over the last two months eclipses those sold by the company’s competitors for the same period, making BMW the best-selling luxury marque for two months running.

In fact, the number of cars BMW registered in May and June (746 units), surpassed the 653 units the company registered from January to April.

With allocation niggles seemingly sorted out, BMW now seems poised for continued strong growth for the rest of the year. Helping the cause, in addition to the new 3, are the 5 and 7 Series models, which have recently received subtle and comprehensive makeovers, respectively.

BMW’s H1 results for 2005 show that it registered 1,399 cars, slightly down from the corresponding period last year where BMW registered 1,470 units.

However, BMW claims that the difference can be entirely attributed to “late availability of new models and the successful sales of the previous generation cars.”

According to Simon Rock, managing director of authorised dealer Performance Motors, the “unprecedented number of new models resulted in a shortage of new cars for delivery which is normal for the car industry but the upside is of course that we now have the newest range of cars in Singapore’s premium car segment.”