German luxury carmaker BMW Group more than tripled its earnings in the third quarter, the company announced on Wednesday, in a rare beacon of hope for the country’s ailing automotive industry.
Net profit came in at about €1.7 billion between July and September, compared to €476 million in the same quarter last year, when BMW was struggling with brake issues. “In the third quarter, we once again proved that our business model is robust and resilient,” said CEO Oliver Zipse.
“We have all the right factors for continued success: a technology-neutral approach, exciting products, a strong global presence, and outstanding innovation capabilities throughout the entire value chain. Thanks to our broad model and drive-train portfolio, we increased global sales, with BMW M and our electrified vehicles as the main growth drivers,” he added.
On track
“At the same time, we remain entirely on track to meet Europe’s ambitious CO2 targets for 2025, without relying on flexibility mechanisms or pooling. This demonstrates that our technology-neutral approach is working and delivering strong results,” Zipse outlined.
“The Automotive Segment EBIT margin remained within the full-year target range for both the first nine months and the third quarter, despite continuing geopolitical challenges and intensifying competition,” BMW’s press release states.
“Customer deliveries rose slightly year-to-date at the end of September, while free cash flow in the Automotive Segment stood at €2,688 million after nine months. On Wednesday, based on these results, the Munich premium manufacturer confirmed its adjusted financial full-year targets announced in October.”
Year-on-year, the BMW Group achieved a slight +2.4% increase in deliveries, reaching a total of 1,795,734 vehicles in the YTD September (2024: 1,754,157vehicles). In the third quarter, the premium manufacturer delivered 588,140 BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce vehicles to customers (2024: 540,881 vehicles, +8.7 %).
Growth for electrified and M models
The success of the BMW Group was particularly evident at both ends of the drive-train line-up. In the first nine months, the strongest growth came from BMW M models (+7.9%) and electrified vehicles (+15%). In the year to the end of September, electrified models accounted for 26.2% of total sales (2024: 23.3%), with BEVs representing 18.0% (2024: 16.8%).
In Europe, electrified vehicles gained even higher shares: they accounted for no less than 40.9% (301,947 units) of all sales, while fully-electric vehicles comprised a quarter during the same period (189,269 units, 25,5%).
Lower R&D spending and capital expenditure
As previously announced, the BMW Group has transitioned from last year’s record levels of future investment, which were required for electrification and digitalisation of the portfolio across all model series, as well as for development of the Neue Klasse.
“As previously announced, this expenditure was lower than last year in every quarter,” said Walter Mertl, member of the Board of Management responsible for Finance. “We are reaping the benefits of having invested in the future early, with the peak now already behind us.”
“In the fourth quarter, we expect further cost reductions, as well as lower research and development spending and capital expenditure. We are systematically managing costs with a measured approach, aiming to continue delivering captivating, innovative premium vehicles, and being consistently profitable,” he added.
With net profits of €5.7 billion in the first nine months, BMW’s latest figures are significantly more solid than results posted by its German rivals, even though the luxury brand has also been struggling with competition on the Chinese market and new US tariffs, causing it, as already said, to slightly lower its annual forecast last month.
By the end of September, Mercedes-Benz logged earnings of €3.9 billion, while Volkswagen’s profits slumped to €3.4 billion over the same period.
