BMW Group's plug-in electric car sales in January amounted to just 7,234, which is the lowest result in the past 12 months, at the lowest growth rate in several years of just 1.4% year-over-year.

According to the German manufacturer, the reason for that is model changeovers – especially the 330e and X5 PHEV.

Anyways, the plug-in share out of overall volume was close to 4.3%.

BMW i + BMW iPerformance + MINI PHEV sales worldwide – January 2019

The best-selling model among plug-ins was the BMW i3 – 2,598 (up 30.4%). The BMW 530e iPerformance, on the other hand, noted a strong growth rate of 82% to 1,722. The MINI Countryman Cooper S E ALL4 increased 25.7% to 1,027 sales (18% of all MINI Countryman sales).

Sales are expected to improve later this year when new models or new versions hit the showrooms.

“Overall sales of BMW Group Electrified vehicles increased by 1.4% compared with January last year, with a total of 7,234 delivered to customers around the world. This increase was achieved despite limited availability of two key plug-in hybrid vehicles due to model changeovers – the introduction of the new BMW 330e and the new BMW X5 xDrive45e later this year is expected to support further sales growth of the company's range of electrified vehicles. The BMW i3 is the company's best-selling electrified vehicle; the introduction late last year of an optional new, more powerful battery helped grow i3 sales in January to 2,598, 30.4% more than in the same month last year. The BMW 530e (fuel consumption combined: 2.2-2.1 l/100 km; power consumption combined: 13.6-13.3 kWh/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 49-47 g/km) was also a significant growth driver, with deliveries up 82.0% (1,722).

2019 will also see the launch of the MINI Electric – the fully-electric car will be introduced to the public later this year. It looks set to build on the success of the MINI Countryman Cooper S E plug-in hybrid (fuel consumption combined: 2.5-2.4 l/100 km, power consumption combined 13.7-13.4 kWh/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 56-55 g/km), which grew its sales by 25.7% in January (1,027) thereby accounting for 18.0% of MINI Countryman sales. January deliveries of MINI brand vehicles totalled 20,575 (-1.7%).”

Pieter Nota, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Sales and Brand BMW said:

“We're pleased to have achieved a sales increase in January, despite the challenging market conditions around the world. We do expect slight growth in 2019, although the model changeover of the BMW 3 Series, our all-time top-selling model, will impact sales in the first quarter. Growth will be driven mainly by full availability of the BMW X5, the introduction of the all-new BMW X7 and, of course the seventh generation of the BMW 3 Series. In January, I was also pleased to see sales of our electrified vehicles grow, despite model changeovers of two key models. By the end of this year, the number of BMW Group electrified vehicles on the roads around the world will total more than half a million.”