BMW: Most sales growth now electric as ‘tipping point’ for combustion engine passes
BMW is generating most of its sales growth from electric cars as opposed to traditional combustion engine vehicles, according to its chief financial officer.
“The tipping point for the combustion engine is already there,” CFO Walter Mertl said in a media roundtable, adding that he believed it was reached by the carmaker last year.
Mertl forecasts the “current sales plateau for combustion cars will continue and then fall slightly”, as looming restrictions on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles come into force.
The executive’s comments, first reported by Reuters, come as European automakers increasingly prioritise EV sales growth ahead of two 2035 bans on fossil fuel-guzzling cars in the UK and on the continent.
However, some have cautioned that the outright approach may not be the most economically efficient means of hitting green goals while keeping production high.
BMW has previously warned that policymakers should instead focus on incremental targets to keep choice open for its customers, as electric vehicles are typically more expensive.
In an interview with City PM in October, Seat and Cupra’s chief executive Wayne Griffiths argued a more “pragmatic” approach would be incentivising electric car adoption and improving the continent’s poor charging infrastructure.
Some 15 per cent of BMW’s sales were all-electric last year and it has a goal of raising that to a third by 2026.
But Mertl said the Munich-based carmaker’s margins for combustion engine and all-electric cars wouldn’t reach parity before 2026, due to the higher costs associated with new battery technologies.
He added the carmaker would keep its pledge to sell three million vehicles by 2030 with an 8-10 per cent margin in its automotive segment.