The BMW Group more than doubled sales of fully-electric BMW and MINI vehicles worldwide in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year (+149.2%). In the first three months of the year, the company sold a total of 596,907 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles. With its broad portfolio of drivetrains with state-of-the-art technology having a positive climate impact, the BMW Group was able to cater to the different mobility needs of its customers worldwide. Compared with the same period of last year, which was the strongest first quarter in the company’s history, sales showed a moderate decrease (-6.2%).
After a strong start to the year, in a highly volatile environment, the combined effects of the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe and the Covid lockdowns in China overshadowed business development as the quarter progressed. Nevertheless, the company absorbed these impacts well overall.“Our clear focus is on ramping up electromobility. In the first quarter, we stepped up the rapid pace of growth from 2021 even further and are fully on track to meet our ambitious growth targets for fully-electric vehicles in 2022,” said Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands, Sales. “The demand for our emotional and innovative products with a wide range of drivetrains covering all customer needs, remains high worldwide. Thanks to this strong product line-up and our high level of flexibility and operational excellence, we expect sales for the full year 2022 to be on a par with last year, despite the challenging global environment,” Nota continued.
With the introduction of the BMW iX and BMW i4, the BMW Group has already significantly expanded its digitalisation of the customer interface and created the necessary conditions for effective, customised marketing of these two technology flagships. This results in a high order intake for both vehicles.
With its new sales and marketing strategy, the company puts the customer experience at the centre of its sales activities. In a next step, the BMW Group will cater to the changing customer expectations, growing digitalisation and the expansion of online vehicle sales. “For the region of Europe, we believe the future lies in a new pan-European agency model. Our focus is on direct customer access with a high customer loyalty and a seamless, end-to-end digital and physical premium customer experience,” explained Nota. The BMW Group is now working out the details of this new model with its European retail partners. “We want our future sales model for Europe to be beneficial for everyone involved: for us, our partners in retail and, above all, for our customers,” Nota continued.
Despite challenging conditions, the BMW Group succeeded once again in more than doubling its first-quarter sales of fully-electric vehicles from the previous year, with a total of 35,289 fully-electric BMW and MINI vehicles delivered to customers (+149.2%). Especially the BMW iX and BMW i4, which both will soon be available in markets worldwide, are making a significant contribution to the ramp-up of electromobility. In 2022, the company aims to again more than double its sales of fully-electric vehicles compared to last year.
The BMW Group is also setting itself higher targets for its BEV offering: This year already, including pre-series vehicles, the company will have 15 fully-electric models in production – serving around 90 percent of its current segments. In addition to existing models like the BMW i4, BMW iX and MINI Cooper SE, this also includes four high-volume BMW model series: the BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series, the BMW X1 and the BMW X3. The new BMW 7 Series will also play a key role in 2022, with the launch of the new BMW i7.
With this fast-growing range of products and strong demand for its new electric models, the BMW iX and the BMW i4, the BMW Group expects sales of its fully-electric vehicles to increase significantly: By the end of 2025, the company aims to have more than two million fully-electric vehicles on the roads.
Uncompromisingly geared towards fully-electric drive trains, the Neue Klasse will make a significant contribution to BMW Group sales volumes from the middle of the decade onwards.
The MINI brand will have an all-electric product range by the early 2030s, while Rolls-Royce will become an all-electric brand from 2030. All future new models from BMW Motorrad in the field of urban mobility will also be fully electric, like the BMW CE 04, the new electric champion for the city.
