Fresh off its best sales year ever, BMW got off to a great start in 2016 with a record-setting January. Even in the face of weather-related closedowns in the United States, the company achieved sales of 133,883 units last month, an increase of 7.5% over January 2015.

“We are pleased to see the sustainable levels of growth we achieved in 2015 continuing into this year,” said Dr Ian Robertson, member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for global sales and marketing BMW. “Despite many markets showing continuing volatility, we remain optimistic that this positive trend will continue through 2016, our company’s centenary year,” he added.

The BMW X series continues to grow in popularity. Sales of the X1 SUV rose more than 60 percent over January 2015. The X3 and X6 saw sales rise 16.6 and 24.2 percent, respectively. The brand’s flagship, the new BMW 7 Series, achieved a 26.3% increase in sales compared with the same month last year.