WOODCLIFF LAKE, NJ – The prestigious automaker, BMW Group, is breaking its records high and dry. Its official scorecard from 2023 flaunts a stamp of success, as the company notches impressively close to its 15% aim for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) market share. With an unblinking eye on the future, BMW is expecting to exceed its past performance and is targeting to sell half a million BEVs in 2024.
The year 2023 witnessed BMW Group selling a staggering total of 375,183 BEVs, marking an uptick of 74.4% from year-over-year results. This compelling figure corresponds to 14.7% of the total volume, a hair’s breadth away from its 15% target. Plug-in hybrids experienced a slight decrease, with 190,303 units being sold, a 13% year-over-year dip, procuring a market share of 7.4%. In unison, BMW sold 566,486 BEVs and PHEVs, an imposing surge by 31%, accruing a commanding 22.2% market share. The fourth quarter alone observed 113,458 full-electric BMW vehicles rolling out, a hefty 55.4% increment.
BMW’s impressive track record didn’t stop there. The touchstone year reported a record sale of over 2.5 million vehicles, a formidable achievement bolstered by the exceptional sales growth in the US by 9.4%, cumulating at nearly 396,000 units. Notably, the gigantic Chinese market grew at a steadier 4.2%, amounting to 824,932 units. Within Europe, another feather in its cap, BMW and Mini vehicles attained sales of 942,805 units, an appreciable rise of 7.5%.
The Mini brand under the BMW Group flourished with the fully-electric Cooper SE selling 45,262 units, a moderate rise of 3.5%. Consequently, fully electric vehicles now account for 15.3% of total Mini sales. The front runners in the higher-end vehicle segment were the BMW iX1 and i4, with the i4 M50 earning the title of the best-selling M car. Intriguingly, anticipated for later this year, the first fully electric touring model will debut as part of the BMW 5 model series.
According to data from InsideEVs, BMW recorded sales of 326 ultra-luxurious EVs of Rolls-Royce Spectre, hence securing a 22% share. Priced at a jaw-dropping $450,000, this vehicle comes in several coveted models, with the Cullinan and the Ghost being the topmost requested worldwide.
Despite rivals slashing prices to stay competitive and the order books bulging for the first few months of 2024, in November, BMW stated they wouldn’t be cutting prices. Only the coming months will unveil any drastic or subtle changes in this stance.
Demonstrating palpable enthusiasm, Jochen Goller, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Customer, Brands, Sales, proudly stated: “Thanks to the close co-operation with our retail partners and the strong performance of our associates, the BMW Group was able to achieve a new all-time sales high for 2023.” He went on to acknowledge that “customers around the world appreciate our strong brands BMW, MINI, Motorrad and Rolls-Royce and in particular the choice of different drive technologies across the entire BMW Group product range.”
Concluding with a confident stride towards increased electromobility, Goller proclaimed: “With our new, highly attractive and technologically outstanding vehicles, we were able to ramp electromobility even more dynamically in 2023 and achieve the goal of 15% of total sales from fully-electric vehicles.”
Sources:
- BMW Group Press – press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0438999EN/a-successful-2023:-bmw-group-posts-record-sales-meets-ambitious-e-mobility-growth-targets
- Electrek – electrek.co/2024/01/10/bmw-nearly-doubles-its-all-electric-sales-in-2023/
- Reuters – reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/bmw-sales-up-103-q4-2024-01-09/
Joe Mcdermott is a journalist, reporter and writer for Auto Buyers Market as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Joe works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.