Ford and Lincoln rev up 63% growth in first half

German carmaker BMW said it delivered more vehicles in June than in any other month. A total of 165,855 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce vehicles were sold, a year-on-year increase of more than 15.9 per cent compared to 143,156 units in June last year and a new all-time high. The company also achieved a new high for the first six months. The group's retail volume for the year to the end of June increased by more than 137,000 vehicles to 833,366, up 19.7 per cent compared to the first half of 2010. The BMW brand delivered 134,432 vehicles in June globally, a growth of 12.3 per cent over the 119,663 vehicles delivered in June last year. BMW brand sales rose 17.8 per cent to 689,861 units in year-to-date compared to 585,750 in the same period last year. The Mini achieved sales of 31,111 vehicles in June, a record for the month and an increase of 34.1 per cent over 23,202 cars sold in June last year. Year-to-date, Mini sales are up 29.8 per cent to 141,913 compared to 109,302 in the first six months of 2010. Rolls-Royce had a record first half with 1,592 cars sold compared to 970 last year, up more than 64.1 per cent. Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for sales and marketing, said: "We have just achieved another record month in sales and the best six months in our company's history. These figures reflect the strong global demand for BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars and motorcycles. "We aim to continue our balanced growth, in both mature and emerging markets. "Due to the model cycle and the year-on-year base effect we do anticipate a somewhat slower rate of growth in the second half of the year." Double-digit growth across all continents contributed to the group's record first half this year. Sales rose 12.3 per cent in Europe to 437,373 vehicles; 18.7 per cent in the America to 178,903 vehicles and 47.3 per cent in Asia to 189,254 vehicles. In the first half of this year, the group had more vehicle registrations in its home market of Germany. China continues to see strong double-digit growth and the company sold 121.614 vehicles year-to-date, up 61 per cent over 2010. The group also saw impressive growth in the dynamic young markets of Brazil, Russia, India, Korea and Turkey in the first half of this year. Dubai Ford and Lincoln sales during the first half of the year posted an impressive 63 per cent growth in the Gulf over the same period last year. The company continues to see market share growth around the region. The success has been attributed to soaring consumer demand combined with refreshed, innovative product-lines, growing dealership investments in the region as well as increased demand on the fleet side. Ford sedans led the way with a 64 per cent rise in sales. The Ford Taurus, Fusion and Mustang recorded significant growth across all GCC markets; with the popular Taurus registering the biggest increase with a 163 per cent boom during the first half of the year. The Ford Fusion followed with an increase of 87 per cent and the legendary Mustang reported a 33 per cent increase in sales across the Gulf. Once again, Saudi Arabia took the lead in growth, achieving an 88 per cent rise in sales for Ford and Lincoln vehicles for the first six months of 2011. Trucks and SUVs remained the best performer for the kingdom with an impressive 94 per cent increase over the same period last year. Sales in passenger cars also remained strong with a 79 per cent increase. Kuwait also registered a strong uptick of 29 per cent in the first six months, with a 28 per cent increase in year-to-date car sales, and a 29 per cent boost in truck/SUV sales. Sales in Bahrain remain high with a 39 per cent increase on last year's figures, with customers again showing a strong preference for trucks/SUVs, accounting for 46 per cent of the rise, with car sales up by 32 per cent. In the UAE, an overall growth of 14 per cent was realised with passenger cars leading the way with a 27 per cent rise followed by 8 per cent growth in trucks/SUV sales. From / Gulf News