2018 Global: BMW i and Mini Electrified Worldwide Car Sales

by

In 2018, the BMW Group sold 142,617 (+38.4%) electrified BMW and MINI cars worldwide.

In 2018, BMW increased sales of electrified cars by 38.4% to 142,617 deliveries of BMW and Mini cars worldwide. More than half of all electrified BMWs were sold in Europe in 2018 but the USA is the single biggest country market for BMW hybrid cars. Electrified cars took a 6% market share of BMW produced worldwide in 2018. Despite being in its fifth year of production, sales of the i3 continued to grow.

BMW Electrified Car Sales Worldwide in 2018 (Full Year)

In 2018, Europe was the BMW Group’s biggest sales region for battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles, accounting for over 50% of sales in 2018. With 75,000 electrified vehicles delivered to customers in Europe last year, the BMW Group is the clear market leader in the region, with over 16% market share.

In Germany, the BMW Group accounts for one in five electrified vehicles sold last year. Globally, the BMW Group’s market share is over 9%.

The company’s biggest single market for electrified vehicles is the USA, where over 25,000 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold in 2018, accounting for more than 7% of the BMW Group’s overall sales in that country. The BMW 530e was the year’s biggest-selling luxury plug-in hybrid in the USA.

Electrified vehicles accounted for 6% of total BMW and MINI sales in 2018, compared with 4% in 2017.

“Since launching the BMW i3 in 2013, the BMW Group has rapidly grown its sales of electrified vehicles. With over 140,000 delivered in 2018, we have once again achieved our ambitious target,” said Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “This great sales result and our impressive market share proves our vehicles are what the customer wants. In countries which offer appropriate infrastructure and regulatory support, we see how quickly electromobility can become the norm. I’m confident that by the end of this year, there will be a total of half a million electrified BMW Group vehicles on the roads, with much more to come as we continue to extend our model line-up over the next few years,” Krüger continued.

2018: Major Milestones for BMW Electric Cars

MARCH: At the Geneva Motor Show, Harald Krüger confirms the BMW i Vision Dynamics will go into series production as the BMW i4, built in Munich from 2021.

APRIL: The BMW Concept iX3 is revealed at the Beijing Auto Show, the first full-electric model in the core BMW brand. It will be built in China and exported to the world, with a market launch scheduled for 2020.

MAY: The BMW i8 Roadster lifts the roof on the world’s best-selling plug-in hybrid sports car, helping overall sales of the BMW i8 to increase by 24% in 2018.

SEPTEMBER: The world’s press are granted a first look at the BMW iNEXT Vision Vehicle, the BMW Group’s pioneering spearhead for future innovation. It combines autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification and services while keeping the focus on the customer and offering them their new “Favourite Space”. The BMW iNEXT Vision Vehicle runs on the company’s fifth generation electric-drivetrain, with a range of over 600 km in the WLTP cycle.

NOVEMBER: Further development of BMW eDrive technology sees the launch of the BMW i3 (120 Ah) and the BMW i3s (120Ah). The storage capacity of this pioneering car’s high-voltage battery has therefore been doubled since its original market launch in 2013. In everyday use, the two models are now able to cover a distance of 260 kilometres. Remarkable in many ways, the BMW i3 also bucks the usual sales curve: deliveries of the BMW i3 have increased every year since it was launched, with 2018 sales up 11% on the previous year.

2019: New BMW Electric Car Launches

In 2019, BMW will launch several new plug-in hybrids, including the new generation BMW X5 plug-in hybrid  and the new BMW 3 Series plug-in hybrid. These models will have the latest generation of electric drive trains, offering an electric range of up to 80 km according to the NEDC cycle.

2019 is also the year when the hotly anticipated MINI Electric will be revealed, which will be built in Oxford, UK.

With the launch of the BMW i3, the BMW Group established itself early as a pioneer in the field of electric mobility. By 2021, the BMW Group will have five all-electric models: the BMW i3, the MINI Electric, the BMW iX3, the BMW i4 and the BMW iNEXT. By 2025, that number is set to grow to at least twelve models. Including plug-in hybrids, the BMW Group’s electrified product portfolio will then comprise at least 25 models.

Worldwide Car Sales per Brand in 2018

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.