BMW Group will take the global luxury sales crown for 2021, the automaker's sales chief predicted Tuesday.
"We are proud to claim the No. 1 position in the global premium automotive segment for the full year 2021," Pieter Nota told Automotive News.
The German automaker said it sold more than 2.2 million BMW-branded vehicles — a record — globally last year.
While rival Mercedes-Benz has yet to report 2021 sales, BMW had the momentum through much of the year.
In the critical U.S. market, the BMW brand reported a 21 percent sales increase in 2021. BMW delivered 336,644 sedans and crossovers, on par with pre-pandemic 2019 sales.
That would put BMW in the lead to take the 2021 U.S. luxury sales crown, pending a fourth-quarter comeback by Mercedes-Benz.
Going into the final quarter, BMW held a 4,808-vehicle lead over Lexus and a nearly 28,000-vehicle advantage over Mercedes for the year.
Strong demand for BMW's crossovers (up 22 percent) fueled U.S. sales. The automaker also limited fallout from the global semiconductor shortage.
"We had the right quantities committed early on for 2021," Nota said.
But as the chip shortage drags on into the new year, BMW is working to reinforce supplies.
"We have entered into a direct agreement with two chipmakers to secure several million semiconductors per year," Nota said. "We expect that the shortage is probably lasting well into 2022, and probably we'll see some relief in the second half of this year."
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