Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

BMW expects at least half of sales to be electric cars by 2030

Published 03/17/2021, 03:16 AM
Updated 03/17/2021, 07:20 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of German luxury carmaker BMW, is seen ahead of the company's annual news conference in Munich

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of German luxury carmaker BMW, is seen ahead of the company's annual news conference in Munich

By Nick Carey and Riham Alkousaa

(Reuters) - BMW expects at least half of its sales to be zero emission vehicles by 2030, setting a more conservative target than some rivals in the race to embrace cleaner driving.

In the short term, the German carmaker forecast on Wednesday a big rise in pretax profit for this year, with a strong performance in all areas - from MINIS through its upmarket BMW brand to top-of-the-range Rolls-Royces.

Its shares rose as much as 4.9% to a 2-1/2 year high of 84.42 euros, buoyed by its forecast for a strong recovery from a pandemic-hit 2020.

Bernstein analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said BMW had entered 2021 "very confidently."

"In terms of electromobility, BMW is making good progress and is taking significantly fewer risks than VW," he said.

Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) has said it expects 70% of European sales at its core VW brand to be electric by 2030 and this week unveiled ambitious plans to expand in electric driving - including building half a dozen battery cell plants in Europe - sending its shares sharply higher.

BMW said around 90% of its market categories would have fully-electric models available by 2023 and the electric BMW i4 would be launched three months ahead of schedule this year.

The carmaker said its MINI brand would be fully electric "by the early 2030s" and electric models would account for at least 50% of group deliveries by 2030.

When asked if BMW could set a date for ending sales of internal combustion engines, as some rivals have, Chief Technology Officer Frank Weber said: "it's not us who decides on the end of the internal combustion engine, but it's the markets."

In an industry chasing electric carmaker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and facing tightening CO2 emissions standards in Europe and China, some automakers have promised a faster shift in technology, despite the huge costs and manufacturing changes involved.

Sweden's Volvo said this month its lineup would be fully electric by 2030, and Ford said in February its lineup in Europe would be too.

Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the European Union almost trebled to over 1 million vehicles in 2020 and accounted for more than 10% of overall sales, taking zero-emission models from niche products into the mainstream.

Chief Executive Oliver Zipse told a news conference that BMW could accelerate its plans if consumers embraced electric models more quickly than expected.

"Should demand in certain markets shift completely to fully electric vehicles in the coming years - we can deliver," he said.

Last week, BMW said 2021 had started well after its profit recovered in the second half of 2020 from pandemic shutdowns, thanks largely to strong sales in China.

For this year, it expects an operating profit (EBIT) margin of 6%-8% after 2.7% in 2020.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Bangkok International Motor Show

Volkswagen said this week its 2021 operating margin should be at the upper end of its 5%-6.5% target range, with a goal of 7%-8% by 2025.

Latest comments

aint buying BMW
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.