A year after the premiere of the new BMW iX3, the company has announced that 100,000 customers in Europe alone have ordered the vehicle. BMW said this is the best first-year start any of its models have ever experienced.
The company also said there is strong interest in the electric car in other markets such as China, where the iX3 has recently become available to order. The Munich-based carmaker has not yet given specific figures for China, however.
Additional momentum
“100,000 orders within a year is a great start for the first model of the ‘Neue Klasse’, whose roll-out is continuing to gain speed,” said sales director Jochen Goller. “This gives us additional momentum for the future of electric mobility.”
BMW aims to bring 40 new and revised models featuring New Class technologies to market by the end of 2027. Orders for the i3, the second model after the iX3 and the electric version of the iconic 3-series sedan/estate, will open at the end of the month.
The Munich-based car manufacturer uses the term ‘Neue Klasse’ or New Class to describe its new generation of models incorporating a range of new technologies. While the iX3 and i3 are initially electric cars, many of the technologies are also intended for use in combustion-engine vehicles. Prototypes of the new ICE 3-Series are already being extensively tested worldwide.
Since the iX3 was unveiled, it has accounted for around one third of electric car orders in Europe. Within the X3 family, electric cars currently account for around half of all orders, well above the brand average, which is already fairly high compared to competitors.
BMW delivered just under 2.17 million vehicles of its core brand worldwide last year. 336,000 of these were pure electric cars, underscoring the significance of the 100,000 iX3 orders placed in Europe alone.
EV awakening?
Volkswagen recently also cited order figures for a new electric car, the ID. Polo, for which it has received 30,000 orders. That model has only been available to order since April, so people in Wolfsburg have high hopes it will be an (electric) hit as their smallest EV to date.
Since Trump started a war in the Middle East and fossil fuel prices have been soaring, demand for electric cars seems to be reaccelerating, especially in Europe but also in the U.S., despite the Trump administration’s outright rejection of EVs.
