BMW Group has big expectations from its electric vehicle lineup when it comes to sales.
While in the first half of this year the automaker sold 75,891 electric vehicles, it expects EV sales for the entire 2022 to reach 240,000-245,000 units, BMW Group Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter said in a video conference on September 26, according to Reuters.
If the automaker's estimate proves accurate, BMW will hit its target of 10 percent fully electric sales this year. Furthermore, the annual EV sales volume would be more than double that of 2021, when BMW Group sold 104,000 electric vehicles.
Demand recovering in China in the third quarter after lockdowns affected the first half of the year—Peter described 2022 as a "roller coaster" year in BMW Group's largest sales market—is the main factor behind the upward sales revision for the 2022 calendar year.
The Bavarians will obviously not stop here and expect EV sales to continue their exponential growth in 2023, when BMW sees them at around 400,000. Nicolas Peter said the company aims to make "another big leap" in purely electric vehicles next year.
Like other automakers, BMW Group faced semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruptions related to the pandemic this year as well. Naturally, these problems have slowed the production of electric vehicles. BMW was also affected by weak demand in Germany and the UK, Europe's biggest markets, although order books were still full. Demand was stronger in France, Spain and Italy.
The automaker expects to reach the higher end of its 7-9 percent margin target for the cars business and sees slight sales growth overall in 2023, Nicolas Peter added. Compared to 2021, global sales this year will be slightly lower due to losses in the first half.
BMW Group currently sells several EVs worldwide: the BMW iX1, iX3, i4, iX, and i7, plus the MINI Cooper SE. In China, the BMW brand also offers the market-exclusive i3 eDrive35L electric sedan. The i4, iX and Cooper SE are also available in the United States, with the i7 slated to start deliveries in early 2023.
In the coming years, the automaker will expand its lineup with MINI's first electric crossover in early 2024 (previewed by the Aceman Concept unveiled this summer), the Countryman EV SUV in 2023 and the next-generation Cooper SE (2023), while the BMW brand will release the i5 (electric 5 Series) in the second half of 2023.
The Neue Klasse (New Class) of EVs will arrive in 2025, with BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse recently saying the Neue Klasse family will debut with a 3 Series-sized electric sedan and a sporty SUV. The first all-electric BMW M car is also in the cards with a quad-motor powertrain, while Rolls-Royce will also launch its first EV, the Spectre coupe, in late 2023.
