BMW Belux will be celebrating its 50th anniversary of presence in Belgium and Luxembourg with the third consecutive number-one place in the market in 2023. At a press meeting, Belux CEO Alexander Wehr and his colleagues looked forward to consolidating this success.

The fact that three premium brands are in the top five of car sales in the Belux is a unique feat in the world, except maybe for dwarf states like Liechtenstein or Monaco. The reason is simple: never else in the world is the car market dominated by more than two-thirds of company cars.

It explains (partly) BMW’s number one position (for several years already) and that more than 50% of BMW sales here are already electrified. For 2024, BMW expects to sell 52% of BEVs, 11% of plug-in hybrids, and 36% of cars with only an internal combustion engine (gasoline or diesel).

Company car market

In Belgium, all new company cars must be electric in 2026, and electrified vehicles have serious tax advantages. This year, the plug-in hybrids were still entitled to a 100% deduction scheme until 1 July; this is now only for pure electric vehicles.

The result was a boom in PHEV sales until June, when BEVs took over. One of the reasons for BMW being number one in this market is its well-established position for decades and the fact that it is offering one of the largest portfolios of electric (BEVs) and electrified (PHEVs) cars.

70% of BMW Belux sales in the company car market were electric, and, as said, it was already more than 50% in the total market, an aim the mother company has set for itself in 2030. “We’re ahead of our colleagues in Munich by six to seven years,” says Belux CEO Alexander Wehr with a smirk.

That BMW is only second in the sales of fully electric vehicles after Tesla also says a lot about the commercial success of the latter in the Belux, where a car like the Model Y has literally exploded the sales charts and almost tripled Tesla sales here, of course mainly in the company car market again.

Looking forward

As we still have a few days to go in 2023 and are still waiting for the definitive sales figures in December, Wehr estimates that some 57 000 BMWs will be sold in the Belux in 2023, an absolute record to celebrate the 50th anniversary of direct import of their cars.

We have already reported that the Belux Group will celebrate this outstanding performance by completely refurbishing its headquarters in Bornem. All activities will be centralized, and BMW employees will be joined by those of BMW’s leasing daughter, Alphabet.

Wehr sees a slightly receding market for the Belux in 2024, by -4% in general and by -1% for the premium segment he’s operating in with BMW. That’s why he doesn’t expect further growth for his premium brand but rather consolidation in a reasonably constant market.

He hopes and expects the new boom to be with the venue of the ‘Neue Klasse’, the ‘new class’ that has to give BMW’s new electric cars 25% more energy density in their battery pack, a 30% increase in charging speed, and a 30% increase in range.

‘Pump up the jam’

With this old Belgian hit single as the lead song in the new-to-launch Mini campaign, Mini is looking forward to big things happening in 2024. “Not that we are going to sell much more Minis in 2024,” says recently appointed Mini Belux CEO Gabriel Goffoy, “but it will be the starting point for our new electric offensive in the years to come.”

“2024 will be important as a year of transformation,” he continues, “and in 2025, we want already to sell 50% electric. In February, the new Mini Countryman comes into the market with two full electric variants. In May, we will see the totally new full electric Mini Cooper SE three-door hatchback arrive.

“There will be a steady increase in production of these newcomers during 2024, with the new Aceman arriving late next year,” Goffoy continues. He also announced the prices for both new EV models. The Cooper E will start at €34 500 and the more powerful SE at €38 500, both eligible for the €5000 premium the Flemish government is offering individual EV buyers of cars under the  €40 000 barrier.

The new Countryman SUV in electric guise will cost €46 250 in its basic E version and €52 250 in its more powerful SE variant. As there is no Brussels Motor Show in 2024, Mini has devised a novel way to promote its new products: a ‘Mini Big Love Boat’ will be moored in Antwerp from 19 to 21 January and from 25 to 27 January in Brussels to host interested visitors in the new ‘digital’ and electric Mini world.