Tesla results do not go unnoticed.
Rapidly growing Tesla sales put pressure on the already tough U.S. premium/luxury segment, according to Bernhard Kuhnt, CEO of BMW North America.
“Tesla is now ramping up their volumes, and it’s putting pressure on that market segment. In that environment, I’m very, very pleased to say we were up.”
BMW barely increased sales in the U.S. last month, by just 1.3% year-over-year, although passenger car sales decreased 9.2%.
On the plug-in side, BMW sold some 1,858 BMW/MINI, which is just 4.3% more than a year ago, at a share of 6.7% of the automaker’s overall sales result. All this while Tesla sales shot up to amazing new heights.
As overall sales of other competitive brands shrink (Lexus down 6.1%, Mercedes-Benz down 9.8%), BMW can indeed be happy, but it doesn’t sound encouraging for the future.
Tesla and BMW are now working on two models – Tesla Model Y and BMW iX3 – that could be direct rivals in two years or so. Much depends on who will deliver the better car at a more reasonable price.
Source: theedgemarkets.com
This article originally appeared on Inside EVs.