The year took off with a good start for BMW as the brand reported record sales for January. US magazine Bloomberg reports that BMW, together with other premium automakers, already have long waiting lines for some of their new vehicles. The new BMW X3, the new compact Sports Activity Vehicle which has the potential to take the BMW brand to the next level in 2011, is expected to account for a large portion of the overall sales for this year. BMW even has the potential to overtake Lexus as the biggest automaker in the America according to Bloomberg.

The demand for the 2011 BMW X3 is strong. Birgit Hiller, a spokeswoman for BMW, says that customers need to wait as many as three months for some models and as long as six months for the new BMW X3 to be delivered.

The first generation BMW X3 was built in Graz, Austria. The new X3 is now being manufactured in the Spartanbug plant which recently received a $750 million expansion investment, including new paint and body shops.

Source: BMW Blog