BMW global car sales up by 2.2 per cent in 2019, Motorrad up by 5.8 per cent

BMW Group has delivered 25.38 lakh cars across the globe in the financial year 2019-2020, as against the 24.83 lakh units in the previous financial year, a growth of 2.2 per cent. Of the 2.5 million cars sold this financial year, 21,85,793 have been BMWs, 3,47,474 have been Minis and 5,100 Rolls-Royces. While BMW numbers as a brand have improved 3.3 per cent overall, Mini sales have dipped by 4.6 per cent. The top grosser in terms of growth has been Rolls-Royce with a 21 per cent growth.

BMW Motorrad has shown solid growth, selling over 1.75 lakh motorcycles in 2019, a 5.8 per cent growth over the 1.65 lakh units sold in 2018.

In terms of financials, while total revenue as crossed 104 billion Euro, net profit has dipped from over 7 billion Euro to 5.022 billion Euro, marking a dip of 28.9 per cent year on year. This is a result of research and development expenses for the year 2019 totaled  5.9 billion, significantly up on the previous year (2018: 5.32 billion; +11.9%). The growing proportion of electrified vehicles is also driving up manufacturing costs. Exchange rate factors and rising prices for raw materials also put downward pressure on earnings while Capital expenditure for property, plant and equipment and other intangible assets increased by 12.3% to 5.65 billion Euro.

Speaking about the most pressing issue as of today, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Oliver Zipse, pointed out in Munich on Wednesday: "Solidarity and responsible action are called for. In our society it is the duty of the strong to protect the weak. The BMW Group therefore fully supports the measures aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus."

Spelling out the plans for 2020, Zipse said that new technologies are key to the future of mobility. Up to 2025, we intend to invest more than 30 billion Euro in research and development to underscore our position as an innovation leader. Preparing for the surge in EV demand, the BMW Group has been procuring the required cobalt and lithium directly and passing those resources on to the suppliers involved in manufacturing battery cells since the beginning of the current year.

Up to 50 percent of traditional drivetrain variants will be eliminated from 2021 onwards in the transition to creating enhanced, intelligent vehicle architectures in favour of additional electrified drivetrains. By the end of 2021, BMW Group will offer five all-electric series production vehicles. Alongside the BMW i3, the all-electric MINI Cooper SE, the BMW iX3 will go into production in 2020 at the plant in Shenyang, China, followed in 2021 by the BMW iNEXT in Dingolfing, Germany, and the BMW i4 at the Munich plant – all of which will be equipped with fifth-generation electric drivetrain technology.

The next generation of the BMW 7 Series will get an all-electric powertrain for the first time in the history of the limousine. It will also get highly efficient petrol and diesel engines along with a plug-in hybrid making it a total of 4 powertrain options.