BMW hits new first quarter sales record

Luxury carmaker BMW says its worldwide sales rose to a new record for the first quarter, fueled by rising deliveries in China and the United States.

The company said today that January-March deliveries by the BMW Group — which also includes the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands — were 11.2 per cent higher than a year earlier at 425,528 vehicles.

It says first-quarter sales in the US were up 16.6 per cent at 75,829 cars and deliveries in China rose 36.8 per cent to 80,014.

BMW says it also saw its best-ever monthly sales in March — selling a total of 185,728 cars, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent.

BMW is due to release first-quarter earnings figures on May 3.