German carmaker BMW Group reported a 26.4% drop in first-quarter net profit to €2.2 billion, as weak demand in China weighed on earnings. Revenues fell 7.8% to €33.8 billion as global vehicle deliveries dropped 1.4% to 586,117 units, driven by a decline in China amid intense market competition.
“Given the sustained demand for its attractive premium vehicles, the BMW Group is able to confirm its guidance for the year,” the company said in a statement. However, it added that due to the volatile developments and ongoing negotiations around US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy, the potential impact of tariffs in 2025 “can only be estimated, based on assumptions.”
“The more challenging the environment, the more crucial it is to have compelling products, a consistent strategy and a high degree of flexibility,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “Our technology-open approach remains a key success factor: with our young, highly attractive models and our broad range of drives, we are able to meet the various needs of customers worldwide. This enables us to achieve robust results and stay on course to meet our ambitious full-year targets.”
“With the Neue Klasse, we are putting our biggest future project on the road: we are expanding our fully-electric offering, and rolling out future technology clusters and the new design language across our entire model portfolio. This will raise the level of innovation in our vehicles across all drive types to a whole new level, while also setting the course for profitable growth and sustainable success,” he added.
Electrified vehicles and EVs still on the rise
In the first three months, the BMW Group achieved growth in key markets like Europe (+6.2%) and the U.S. (+4.0%). As the total sales fell by 1.4%, the sales regress in China must be fairly considerate, but BMW gives no detailed figures.
In the first quarter of 2025, the BMW brand delivered a total of 520,121 vehicles to customers worldwide (-2%). The strongest growth was recorded by the new BMW 5 Series models (+35.8%), as well as the BMW X1 and X2 variants (+31.8%). The BMW M brand achieved solid sales growth of +5.0% in the first quarter, delivering a total of 50,500 vehicles to customers.
The MINI brand, which updated its entire product range over the course of last year, sold 64,615 units worldwide, an increase of 4.1%. The Rolls-Royce brand delivered 1,381 units to customers between January and March (-9.4%).
Fully-electric vehicles from the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands reported significant growth, with 109,513 deliveries worldwide (+32.4%). The BMW iX1 was the brand’s most successful BEV model, while the BMW i4 accounted for half of all BMW 4 Series delivered.
Sales of fully-electric vehicles saw the strongest growth in Europe (+64.2%). New models from the Mini brand were major contributors to this: The urban premium brand delivered a total of 22,794 fully-electric vehicles, achieving a BEV share of 35.3%.
The BMW Group currently offers at least one model with an electrified drive train in every vehicle class. Total deliveries of electrified vehicles (BEVs and PHEVs) also rose significantly in the first three months of the year, reaching 157,487 vehicles (+28.5% compared to Q1 2024).
The Group will reach two significant sales milestones shortly: first, the delivery of 1.5 million fully-electric premium vehicles since the market launch of the BMW i3 in 2013; and second, a total of three million electrified cars since then.
Challenging environment
Despite the serious profit decline (-26.4%), BMW performed better than domestic rivals: Mercedes-Benz reported a 43% profit drop to €1.7 billion, while Volkswagen, Germany’s top carmaker, posted a 41% profit decline to €2.2 billion.
“Stable financial performance and effective cost management characterized the first quarter despite the challenging environment,” CFO Walter Mertl said, adding that BMW will continue to optimize its efficiency and cost structures.
That’s why BMW is not changing its forecast for the year at the moment. “The BMW Group expects demand to rise in many markets in 2025, driven by a stabilizing inflation and further moderate interest rate cuts. In the USA, permanent tariffs could be reflected in rising inflation.”
Regarding the pending war on tariffs, the company adds: “Due to the volatile developments and ongoing negotiations, the potential impact of tariffs in the current financial year can only be estimated, based on assumptions. The BMW Group expects some of the tariff increases to be temporary, with reductions from July 2025. The forecast also includes mitigating measures to offset the impact of higher tariffs.”
BMW Group anticipates slight sales growth, with fully-electric vehicles contributing to a slightly higher share of deliveries. Due to the factors mentioned above, Group earnings before tax are expected to be on a par with the previous year. The EBIT margin for the Automotive Segment is forecast to be within the range of 5.0-7.0%, with an RoCE (Return on Capital Employed) of between 9-13%.
