Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a global player, the BMW Group operates within the current tensions of world politics. Like many sectors of the global economy, we are adjusting to a new reality – one in which abrupt changes in external conditions often have far-reaching consequences, not just for our industry.
In these circumstances, it is critical not to get caught up in the public frenzy or rush into hasty actions. That is why we continue to focus on our long-term strategic course with pragmatism and flexibility.
And this approach is proving its value: Despite the volatile conditions, the BMW Group has started 2025 in line with our expectations.
There are three main reasons for this:
First, our fresh and attractive product line-up across all drive technologies – which helped us achieve a robust performance, especially in Europe and the US.
Second, continued strong sales growth for our all-electric vehicles.
And, third, a high standard of cost discipline across the company.
All of this meant that, despite various influencing factors, our profitability for the first quarter was in the upper half of our guidance.
Let’s take a closer look at the details:
In all major sales regions outside of China, we increased our sales, compared to the same period of last year. Excluding China, sales grew by almost six percent (5.9%).
This confirms the effectiveness not only of our product strategy, but also of our technology-open approach. Our vehicles are in demand, across all types of drivetrain.
We saw particularly good growth in Europe and the US – with sales in Europe up solidly by more than six percent and an increase of four percent in the US.
We are growing steadily across the entire Americas region, with growth of over 5 percent. We are also growing overall in our markets outside Europe, America, and China by 15 percent. Thanks to our strong performance in other markets, we were able to nearly offset the persistent challenges in the Chinese market.
We have the right products on the market at the right time. Our wide range of all-electric vehicles across all brands allows us to take full advantage of the growing demand for pure electric vehicles.
The more than 32-percent increase in BEV sales underlines the strong appeal of our electric vehicles. Above all, high demand in Europe fuelled this growth in BEVs. Here, sales of fully-electric vehicles climbed by more than 64 percent year-on-year. E-mobility “made by BMW” is also gaining popularity in the US, with sales up by more than 23 percent.
Nearly one in five vehicles sold by the BMW Group is now fully-electric.
The total share of electrified vehicles – that is, pure electric cars plus plug-in hybrids – now exceeds 25 percent.
MINI, in particular, is benefiting from the strong demand for all-electric vehicles. Today, an electric heart beats in one out of every three vehicles built by the brand. With all models of the New MINI Family now fully available, the brand recorded sales growth of four percent. In China, locally-built electric models played a key role in the brand’s growth of over 18 percent.
The share of fully-electric vehicles in total sales is especially important for meeting European CO2 targets. In 2024, the BMW Group once again significantly outperformed its European CO2 fleet target. Based on internal calculations, our numbers came in at under 100 grammes per kilometre in the WLTP cycle for the first time. We are confident that we will meet the original legal requirements this year as well.
In addition to the growth in all-electric vehicles, we also benefited from continued high demand for our sporty BMW M models – with sales up 5 percent in the first quarter. High-performance models such as the two BMW M5* variants and the BMW M3* were the main growth drivers.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The first quarter of 2025 highlighted our company’s ability to seize opportunities in a challenging environment and to successfully defend our position in the marketplace.
Looking ahead, new orders across all drive technologies give us every reason for confidence – especially in Germany, where we are seeing significant growth.
Nevertheless, 2025 remains a year of high volatility. We are closely monitoring developments and preparing for different scenarios. This will enable us to respond flexibly and quickly to changing circumstances. We remain firmly committed to deliver robust results and to meet our ambitious annual targets.
Free trade and international cooperation are important drivers of growth and progress. They have always guided our actions. In trade conflicts, on the other hand, nobody wins. All sides should therefore avoid a spiral of isolation and trade barriers, and instead promote growth, progress and innovation worldwide.
We are advocating for this at various political levels in our markets. Thanks to our international footprint and strong, long-term commitment in various countries, we enjoy a high level of credibility. That is why people listen to us attentively and our arguments are well received.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is especially important in challenging times that we continually assess the situation in our markets and regions. That is why I have spent significant time in the past few months gathering information about the situation on the ground in our most important markets.
Just two weeks ago, I was at Auto Shanghai. This trade show provides a valuable indicator for current trends – especially for the Chinese market.
One of the highlights was the world premiere of our BMW Vision Driving Experience, or VDX for short. This is the most powerful development prototype BMW has ever built. The key data speaks for itself:
18,000 Newton meter of torque.
1.2 tonnes of Downforce.
Lateral forces of up to 3 g.
These are the kind of numbers you usually only see in top-of-the-range racing cars.
The VDX is a pure test vehicle, designed to push the limits of driving physics. However, many of its technologies will be used in our NEUE KLASSE.
In particular, the VDX showcases the performance capabilities of our “Heart of Joy” – one of four high-performance computers that will control key functionalities, such as driving dynamics, automated driving and infotainment in our NEUE KLASSE.
The “Heart of Joy” clusters all drivetrain and driving dynamics functions in a single, standardised electronic control unit. In combination with our dynamic performance control system – which was developed entirely in-house – we are redefining the BMW brand’s most fundamental core characteristic.
We are creating “the next level of Sheer Driving Pleasure”.
We demonstrated exactly what this means with an incredible live performance in Shanghai. For this purpose, we built our own test track with a massive ramp.
The public and trade press were more than impressed with the performance and possibilities unleashed when we combine our decades of experience in driving dynamics with cutting-edge control technology. This is something only we at BMW can do.
Our customers will benefit directly from this – because a system that can manage forces like these can also handle everyday operations with ease: not just in terms of agility and driving stability, but also efficiency and comfort.
Towards the end of the year, series production of the NEUE KLASSE will begin at our new plant in Debrecen, Hungary – starting with the BMW iX3*, which will celebrate its world premiere at the IAA MOBILITY in Munich.
After that, the rollout will continue in rapid succession. In 2026, production of a sporty sedan at the heart of the BMW brand will get underway at our main plant in Munich.
We are deliberately launching the NEUE KLASSE in high-volume segments, so that our innovations can immediately have a broad impact.
Between now and 2027, we will release more than 40 new or updated BMW models onto the market – from BEVs, to plug-in hybrids, to vehicles with combustion engines. All of these will benefit from the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE – and, of course, from the new design language as well.
No other manufacturer has a project as comprehensive and ground-breaking as ours ready for production.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
With its broad product portfolio across all brands, its technology-open approach and highly flexible production network, the BMW Group is in an excellent position to exploit growth opportunities as they arise.
Thanks to our global footprint, we are also able to respond quickly to changes in individual regions, as well as challenges around the world.
We will continue to build on these typical BMW strengths in future.
Thank you.
SOURCE: BMW Group
