BMW Reports Record Sales in 2012

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

BMW reported a record year for motorcycle sales, supplying 106,358 motorcycles and scooters in 2012. This represents a 2.0% increase from the 104,286 units sold in 2011. Helping BMW reach its new sales record was a strong December which saw sales of 6,069 units worldwide, a 43.4% increase from the 4,232 units sold in December 2011. The record year includes 12,057 motorcycles sold in the U.S., a 14.0% gain from 2011.

“Never before in the history of BMW Motorrad have we been able to sell as many vehicles,” says Stephen Schaller, president of BMW Motorrad. “We have achieved this magnificent retail success in the context of a very difficult motorcycle market, especially in Europe. I would like to thank all our customers most sincerely for having placed their trust in us. The new all-time sales high demonstrates that our motorcycles and maxi scooters have been received extremely well.”

Leading BMW’s sales is the air-cooled R1200GS, the final production year of that version of the GS which will give way to a new R1200GS with a “precision cooling” air- and liquid-cooling system. BMW sold 17,249 units of the last-generation R1200GS in 2012, as well as 10,203 units of the more off-road oriented R1200GS Adventure variant. The popularity of the adventure touring genre also led to the sale of 11,487 units of the F800GS.

The S1000RR was also among the top sellers, with BMW selling 8,970 units of the sportbike. Also among the more successful models are the R1200RT tourer (7,909 units) and the K1600GT and K1600GTL which combined for 10,033 units sold. BMW also sold 5,300 units of its new maxi-scooters, the C600 Sport and C650GT, since their market launch in the second half of 2012.

BMW will try to maintain its momentum in 2013 with a number of new and special edition models. In addition to the new R1200GS, BMW is introducing the HP4, an even more exotic sportbike than the S1000RR it’s based on, as well as the new F800GT which replaces the outgoing F800ST. Also coming are special edition versions of the last-generation R1200GS, R1200RT and R1200R to celebrate the 90th anniversary of BMW motorcycle production.

There are lots of new products in store for our customers in 2013 – the year of our 90th anniversary,” says Schaller. “Based on our ongoing product offensive we feel confident as we look ahead to the upcoming season. Our aim is to surpass the 2012 record once again.”

BMW’s Husqvarna brand has also shown some improvement in 2012, delivering 10,751 units over the year, up 15.7% from 9,286 units in 2011. The most popular models were Husqvarna’s single-cylinder off-road and supermoto models in the 250cc/310cc (2,758 units) and the 449cc/511cc (1,627 units) segments.

The year also saw 1,936 units in sales for the Nuda 900 and 900R streetbikes and 1,321 units of the TR 650 Terra and Strada.

[Source: BMW]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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