BMW goes all in on electric cars as financial headwinds mount

The folks in Munich are navigating a tricky road. While the BMW Group managed to sell over 1.2 million cars in the first half of 2025, keeping sales stable, its profits tell a different story. The German automaker reported pre-tax earnings of over $6.68 billion, but that figure is a big drop from the same period last year. The culprit? A cocktail of unfavorable currency rates, a cooling market in China, and the ever-present shadow of international trade tariffs.

Despite the financial squeeze, BMW's strategy is becoming crystal clear: go electric. The company's push into electric cars has moved from a side project to becoming the main event. In the first six months of the year, more than one out of every four vehicles the BMW Group delivered was electrified - either a fully electric vehicle (BEV) or a plug-in hybrid (PHEV).

That amounts to 319,031 electrified cars hitting the road, a 6.5% increase from the previous year. Europe, in particular, is embracing the charge, with sales of BMW's EVs and hybrids jumping by a massive 34.8%. This momentum recently led the company to a huge milestone: the delivery of its 1.5-millionth fully electric vehicle since the BMW i3 first rolled out in 2013.

Nowhere is this electric success more obvious than with the MINI brand. The classic British marque, now under BMW's wing, saw its sales surge by an impressive 17.4%, selling 133,838 cars globally. The company credits this remarkable growth almost entirely to its battery-powered models.

The new electric family, including the MINI Cooper Electric, MINI Aceman Electric, and MINI Countryman Electric, is clearly a hit with customers. In fact, more than one in every three MINIs sold worldwide in the first half of the year was a fully electric model, making up 34.3% of the brand's total sales.

EVs might be the bright spot, but the balance sheet tells the full story. Group revenues fell to $79.31 billion, down from over $86 billion in the first half of 2024. Net profit took a hit, landing at just over $5 billion compared to last year's $6.68 billion. BMW points to several factors, but chief among them are tariffs, particularly the anti-subsidy measures on Chinese-made EVs from the European Commission and higher US duties.

The company stated these trade disputes shaved about 1.5 percentage points off its profit margin for its automotive business, which settled at 6.2%. It seems building cars on a global stage comes with its share of political and economic headaches.

BMW isn't resting on its EV laurels and is preparing for a massive product offensive. Chairman Oliver Zipse announced that September will mark a "new era for BMW" with the debut of the first vehicle from its next-generation platform, the NEUE KLASSE.

The first model to use this new all-electric architecture will be the new BMW iX3. This launch is just the beginning of what the company calls an "unprecedented product ramp-up." By 2027, BMW plans to launch more than 40 new and updated models across all its brands and vehicle types, from gasoline-powered to fully electric.

This aggressive push is supported by global sales that show resilience outside of China. In Europe, the BMW Group sold 498,670 vehicles, an 8.2% increase. The Americas also saw sales climbing 3.4% to 237,972 units. In the United States alone, the company delivered 193,826 cars, a 2.7% rise. By offering a wide range of powertrains - currently over 15 fully-electric models and 12 plug-in hybrids - BMW believes it can weather the economic storms and meet the varied demands of customers around the world as it steers firmly toward an electric future.

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