BMW sales suffer in the third quarter, and BEVs are the only real positive point

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Like many traditional automakers, the BMW Group is having a bad year, including the third quarter. In fact, despite years of delays and lobbying against regulations pushing for a faster transition to electric vehicles, fully electric vehicles (BEVs) were the only bright spot for the company last quarter.

While the BMW brand, MINI, BMW Motorrad, Rolls-Royce and the BMW Group in general had declining year-over-year sales in the third quarter (-6.8%, -2.4%, -12.5%, -18.0% and -6.3%, respectively), and even the BMW Group’s electrified vehicles were down 0.3%, the BMW Group’s BEV sales were up a whopping 7.2%! Imagine if the company had focused a little more on BEVs and leading the transition to BEVs.

Like other major automakers that once found glory and tremendous sales success in China, the changing Chinese market and low auto sales in 2026 took away a large chunk of BMW’s market share. Sales in China fell by 24.8%! Of course, the Chinese auto market is rapidly electrifying, so the best way to minimize sales drops Accidents there mean developing more competitive EVs, but consumers are increasingly shifting toward Chinese EV brands.

In Europe, where the BMW Group saw sales growth of 2.7%, BEVs were the big story. “Between July and the end of September 2026, the BMW Group “In Europe, one in three BMW Group vehicles delivered to customers during this period was fully electric (34.7%). BEV sales increased disproportionately here to 81,941 units (+37.5%). This also applies to Germany, where the BMW Group’s fully electric models recorded exceptionally high growth (+38.5%). Sounds good, No?

Well, thank goodness for electric vehicles.

Oh, by the way, the only segment of the company that has seen year-over-year sales growth through the first nine months of 2026 is the MINI brand, and it is heavily electrified. “Since the beginning of the year, MINI It has sold a total of 220,247 vehicles, increasing its deliveries by 6.8%. 37.2% of these vehicles were fully electric. This positive trend was partly driven by the John Cooper Works models and the MINI Paul Smith Edition*. A further boost is expected from the new MINI Countryman Untamed Edition.”

Thank goodness for electric vehicles!