BEVs Drive Q1 Profits For BMW Group, Charting 28% YOY Growth Too

BMW i7 - the BMW brand's flagship BEV offering - showcased locally last year. Full-EVs like the i7 have driving the brand's - and group's - Q1 2024 sales.

BMW Group released its first quarter (Q1) figures earlier this week, and the group achieved its margin targets by delivering around 83,000 all-electric vehicles from its BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce brands. Altogether, the group’s collective BEV sales rose by 28% too.

Over the past two years, the BMW Group delivered more than 1.1 million electrified vehicles to customers, with over 60% of these being full-electric (or BEV) models.

The company posted a slight growth of 1.1% compared to the previous year and reaffirmed its leading position in the global premium segment. Major automotive markets showed an upward trend based on catch-up purchases and increased sales in the mid-price volume segment. 

Collectively, BMW Group saw BEVs sales across all its brands rise by 28% throughout Q1 2024, totalling 83,000 units.

The BMW Group benefited from its young and highly attractive product line-up, with the BMW brand selling 530,933 units throughout Q1, thus recording an increase of 2.5% year-on-year, and the EBIT margin in the Automotive segment was within the target range of 8-10%.

The popular BMW i4, BMW iX1, and BMW i7 were among the biggest growth drivers of the 78,682 BEVs delivered through the main BMW brand. It also saw BEVs charting particularly strong growth of +40.6%. A total of 122,582 BMW Group electrified vehicles, BEVs, and PHEVs, were delivered to customers, representing a sales share of almost 21%. 

Further sales momentum is expected over the year from new offerings like the BMW iX2 and BMW i5, which are currently ramping up - the former set for local launch here in Malaysia too soon.

Besides the flagship i7 featured at the start, BMW notes new models like the iX2 pictured above as key drivers to its charged BEV sales in Q1 this year.

Also a key driver to BMW Group's BEV sales growth is the new  BMW i5 saloon offering.

Over on to the group’s financing and leasing business, BMW Group Financial Services continued to experience dynamic development in Q1 of 2024.  New retail business with end customers saw strong growth, with the number of new contracts climbing by 21.5% to reach a total of 422,056 (2023: 347,298 contracts). 

The corresponding total volume of new business from financing and leasing contracts with retail customers was € 15,620 million (2023: € 12,788 million/+22.1%).

The firm predicts a steady growth pace from Q1 to continue through the year thanks to the predicted 3.2% global economic growth too.

Forecasts predict a slight increase of 3.2% in global economic growth for 2024, and BMW Group is expected to participate in this growth, leveraging its balanced positioning across the world's major regions. 

The company also expects to see slight growth in customer deliveries worldwide in 2024, but group earnings before tax are forecast to decrease slightly due to higher manufacturing and fixed costs, particularly personnel costs and R&D expenses. KR