For the 5th year in a row, BMW is the undisputed market leader in Belgium, a unique feat worldwide. BMW Belux CEO Alexander Wehr was, of course, thrilled with this result at the traditional yearly overview. When it comes to the future of BMW and Mini in our countries (and abroad), BMW’s top manager remains prudently positive, despite the significant changes that happened in 2025.

“2025 has brought us the perfect storm and a geopolitical challenge,” Wehr stated, pointing out that the suppliers are in dire straits and that the value chain at the moment is dominated by the Far East and, more specifically, China. “This has been weakening the European car industry, and the fact that electricity is so expensive here doesn’t really help.”

Two-sided

Wehr welcomes the recent EU decision on postponing the ban on ICE cars in the EU: “We, at BMW, have always put forward ‘the power of choice’ for our customers, a multi-path toward the drive of the future, in which electrification will play an ever-increasing role. In the end, the future will be electric, but if the ban had remained in place, the European market would have been halved in 2035.”

On the other hand, BMW Belux is a driving force in the country’s electrification, also because it has such a strong position in the B2B sector, which is the driving force behind it in Belgium. Wehr closes its discussion by saying that ” the future will indeed be electric, but not necessarily 100%”.

Almost half (49%) of the BMWs sold in the Belux in 2025 were electrified, with 34% being pure electric cars (BEVs). That’s far above the country’s average, and it hasn’t hampered the brand from being number one across the line: BMW in 2025 was the number one seller overall, in the premium segment, and in the full-electric segment.

As already mentioned, BMW has a unique position in the Belux: per 100,000 inhabitants, 3,809 drive a BMW, which is unequalled worldwide. Wehr sees one big reason for this: “We’re close to our customers. By creating unforgettable experiences for customers, we’re also selling dreams; we involve passion in the process.”

Mini

Gabriel Goffoy, Mini’s head in the Belux, is as enthusiastic about the performance of ‘his’ make as his boss. “Mini is in whole movement,” he explains. “We introduced the agency or direct sales model this year, and it worked. We installed 130 new IT systems, resulting in far more transparency and no more price hassling.”

Mini sold 31% more cars in the Belux in 2025 and has grown 100% in the fleet business, where 60% of all Minis are pure electric ones. Goffoy is also very proud that his brand has achieved the same here as his bigger brother: worldwide, there are also the most Minis on the road in the Belux per 100,000 inhabitants. “We’ve even surpassed the UK in this, an achievement I’m very proud of,” Goffoy proudly explains.

To anchor this success in the coming years, Mini Belux also wants to introduce more passion. It has created ‘Mini More’, the first loyalty program from Mini, offering carefully selected experiences for Mini customers, such as safaris in Minis, glamping with Mini roof tents, drive-in cinema events, several sports activities, and unforgettable concerts.

Prudently confident

2026 will be a decisive year for BMW Belux. The fight to remain number one will become harder and fiercer, Wehr thinks, and the market circumstances won’t be optimal. Now, the big brother will have to prepare for the agency model to be introduced at the beginning of 2027.

“With a few expected glitches, we’ve succeeded with Mini. Further improvements are nevertheless necessary, surely when we are going to implement this new retail system into our BMW network.” Despite these challenges, the BMW Belux boss remains confident that his brands will stay hugely competitive in 2026 and that he can happily look out of the window of his renewed Bornem headquarters at the end of next year.

Of course, the venue of the new electric products of the ‘Neue Klasse’ will play an important role here, surely in the professional market. Until now, the reception of the first model, the iX3, has been very positive, and BMW will start its big launch program of the car at the Brussels Motor Show, with the first deliveries expected in Summer 2026. Others, like the i3 sedan, will follow as quickly as possible.

Electric habits

BMW Belux has studied the habits of its 77,274 clients who already drive electric cars in Belgium. Together, they already clocked 2.8 billion electric kilometers and, by doing so, saved 430,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Apparently, the average electric Mini or BMW driver is a ‘Friday charger’. All in all, there were 9.7 million charging sessions in 2025, and 16.2% happened on Friday, whereas Sundays were the least popular with 11.9% of all sessions.

Finally, the ‘electric clients’ of BMW Belux are not postponing charging until there is a danger of stranding. On average, only 2% start charging when there is 30 km or less of range left; most plug in when there is 30% or more battery capacity left. They’ve apparently already adopted the new habit of charging their electric car wherever it’s available. On average, this is 125.5 times per year.