BMW 2009 Annual Report Download - page 25

23 Group Management Report
In October 2009 we announced plans to invest the equiv-
alent
of more than euro 200 million in the BMW Rosslyn
plant in South Africa prior to introducing the next generation
of the BMW 3 Series.
In the course of 2009 we completed the construction of
new assembly facilities at our plant in Spartanburg, USA ,
which has now been in operation for 15 years. The paint
shop was also expanded and car body construction facili-
ties renovated. These investments were made primarily as
part of a set of measures prior to the start-up for the new
generation of the BMW X3. Production of the M variants of
the BMW X5 and X6 as well as the BMW ActiveHybrid X6
was also commenced during the year. 60 % of the energy
requirements for the plant were provided by methane gas
collected from a local waste disposal site, enabling some
59,000 tons of CO2 emissions to be avoided each year.
Together with our joint venture partner, Brilliance China
Automotive Holdings Limited, we announced in November
2009 that we will be constructing a second production
plant at the Shenyang site. The total amount to be invested
is euro 560 million. Construction is to commence in 2010
and the new plant should start production activities in
2012.
Motorcycle sales down on previous year
The number of BMW motorcycles sold in 2009 fell to
87,306 units worldwide (– 14.1 %) in a difficult market
environment. Despite the adverse conditions, the Motor-
cycles segment was nevertheless able to improve its
position and gain market share on all fronts, reflecting the
fact that the drop in sales volume of BMW motorcycles
was much less pronounced than the overall contraction
of the markets in which we operate. A major contribution
to this performance came from the K 1300 R, K 1300 S
and K 1300 GT models, which have been available to
customers since February, and from the F 800 R, on sale
since May 2009.
Lower sales volumes registered on most markets
In total, 60,178 BMW motorcycles were handed over to
customers in Europe in 2009, a decrease of 16.3 %. In
Germany, currently the largest single market for BMW
motorcycles, we were able to maintain market leadership
with 15,375 units sold (– 17.2 %). Sales in France (7,014
units / – 14.6 %), Italy (13,162 units / – 12.5 %) and Spain
(6,457 units / – 36.4 %) were all down on the previous year.
In the United Kingdom, however, sales increased by 4.3 %
to 5,859 units despite a generally contracting market.
The number of motorcycles sold in 2009 fell by 20.9 %
to
9,191 units in the USA and by 6.3 % to 2,825 units in
Japan.
Model range expanded
The expansion of the model range in 2009 helped to
cushion the impact of adverse business conditions for the
Motorcycles segment. The K 1300 R, K 1300 S and
K 1300 GT models were shipped to dealers for the first
time in February 2009. The F 800 R and the special
R 1200 GS, R 1200 R and R 1200 RT models (launched
to
coincide with the 15th anniversary of four-valve boxer
BMW motorcycles delivered
in 1,000 units
105
100
95
90
85
80
75
05 06 07 08 09
*
97.5 100.1 102.5 101.7 87.3
* excluding Husqvarna Motorcycles (13,052 motorcycles)