BMW wants to launch the new all-electric vehicle generation extremely quickly in the coming years.
“We are planning an incredibly fast market launch,” said CEO Oliver Zipse in the run-up to the IAA Mobility in Munich on the occasion of the presentation of a new all-electric model. The car company wants to launch six models with a new electric architecture, the so-called new class, within 24 months of the start of production in 2025. As planned, the first car will roll off the assembly line in Debrecen, Hungary, followed by Munich, China and Mexico, Zipse confirmed.
The cars around the new class from BMW are said to have about 30 percent faster charging times and a range that is about 30 percent longer. The model presented on Saturday in the run-up to the IAA will start in the 3-series segment, which is important for BMW.
With the new generation of vehicles, BMW wants to attack the still relatively small but fast-growing and increasingly competitive market for electric cars. Chinese newcomers in particular are increasingly securing market shares – so far in China, BYD, Nio or Xpeng are planning to increasingly compete with traditional car manufacturers in Europe with innovative vehicle concepts.
With the new class, the Munich-based group wants to noticeably increase the ramp-up of fully electric cars (BEV) with many new models: After around 9 percent in 2022, BMW sees the BEV share of total sales according to previous information at 15 percent this year and at least 25 in 2025 Percent. A year later, every third vehicle should be a BEV. The dynamics could then increase with the new models.
Zipse: New class will be “very profitable”.
BMW promises continued high profitability even with continued high investments and the ramp-up of the initially lower-margin all-electric cars. “We are already profitable with electric vehicles today,” said CEO Oliver Zipse at the presentation of the vision vehicle for the coming vehicle generation. “The new class will be very profitable,” the manager announced to journalists, without naming a specific margin target for the new all-electric cars. “We will (but) definitely not be less profitable than today,” he added.
The Munich group does not traditionally name any profitability targets for individual vehicle classes. What is certain, however, is that BMW is not losing or will not lose any money selling electric cars, said Zipse in the run-up to the IAA Mobility in Munich. The target range for the operating margin in the automotive business will also be between 8 and 10 percent in the coming years. For this year, the group raised the forecast range to 9 to 10.5 percent in the summer in view of good sales prices and sustained strong demand.
BMW presented the first vehicle of the new class in Munich on Saturday. Six models of the new generation are to be launched within 24 months of the start of production in 2025. The first car is scheduled to roll off the assembly line in Debrecen, Hungary, followed by Munich, China and Mexico, Zipse confirmed. The cars in the new class are said to have about 30 percent faster charging times and a range that is about 30 percent longer. The model presented on Saturday will start in the 3-series segment, which is important for BMW.
MUNICH (Dow Jones)
Selected leverage products on BMW AG
With knock-outs, speculative investors can participate disproportionately in price movements. Simply select the desired lever and we will show you suitable open-end products on BMW AG
Leverage must be between 2 and 20