BMW Group's US sales shoots up 27.1 pct in Nov

BMW Group on Wednesday said its US auto sales shot up 27.1 percent over last year driven by strong demand for all-wheel-drive vehicles, the X5 and X6 in particular, and the 5 Series with AWD.

The company sold 22,883 vehicles in November as against 18, 002 vehicles during the same period a year ago.

November is normally a tough month but we increased our sales momentum thanks to strong demand for our all-wheel-drive vehicles, the X5 and X6 in particular, and now that it's available, the 5 Series with AWD, said Jim O'Donnell, President and CEO of BMW of North America, LLC. The overall market shows signs of improvement with consumer confidence increasing slightly but our dealers know they have to work for every sale and that work is paying off.

Sales of BMW brand vehicles in November increased 30.2 percent for a total of 20,097 vehicles from the 15,438 units sold in November of last year. Year-to-date, BMW sales are up 11.8 percent to 196,833 vehicles from the 176,104 units sold in the same period of 2009, the carmaker said in a statement.

Best performing vehicles for the month included the 5 Series, up 58 percent to 5,042 units; 1 Series, up 40.7 percent to 1,019 units; and the 3 Series, up 36.6 percent to 8,928 units. The SAV segment continues to perform very well with the X5, up 24 percent to 3,436 units and the X6, up 30.8 percent to 561 units, the company added.