BMW has also adopted a cleaner exterior design language: There’s no sign of the hideously oversized grilles that blighted some recent models, thank goodness.It’s easy to be gloomy about European automakers facing intense competition from technologically sophisticated and lower cost rivals like BYD Co. and Xiaomi Corp. But at least one Western manufacturer, is aiming to convince customers and investors it can compete with the best that China or Tesla Inc. offer — and I reckon BMW AG might have found a sweet spot.
On Friday, the German automaker unveils the electric iX3 sport utility vehicle. Car launches are generally overhyped and quickly forgotten, but this one matters: It showcases the advanced hardware and software that will underpin future BMW models, both battery-driven and gasoline-powered.
Dubbed Neue Klasse, in homage to the mid-range models that saved BMW from financial ruin in the 1960s, its new technological building blocks will enable greater battery driving range, faster charging and a much better user experience. The company says the iX3 can be driven as far as 805 kilometers (500 miles) before plugging in; a 10-minute charge delivers a range of more than 370km.
Representing more than €10 billion ($11.7 billion) of investment and around five years in the making, BMW’s big reset looks to have been well calibrated for an era when autos are evaluated more for their software chops than horsepower.
Motoring journalists, who already tested prototypes, have been impressed by the responsive driving dynamics and futuristic cabin — instead of the usual instrument cluster, a panoramic display stretches across the entire windscreen.
BMW has also adopted a cleaner exterior design language: There’s no sign of the hideously oversized grilles that blighted some recent models, thank goodness.
It’s rare for BMW to make such a big splash; the company prioritizes long-term thinking while its executives try to avoid controversy or theatrics. Almost half of BMW’s shares are controlled by the billionaire Quandt family, whose calmness and low-profile couldn’t be more different than Elon Musk’s grandstanding; his outlandish promises and ever-evolving Master Plans fuel Tesla’s stock price while BMW remains overlooked by many investors and occasionally scorned.
The Munich-based company was criticized a few years ago for refusing to join the stampede for EVs even as European rivals were vowing to go all-electric by the end of the decade. BMW’s management insisted that providing customers with a choice of electric, hybrid, gasoline or hydrogen-powered vehicles would be essential for years to come because the transition would happen gradually and at different speeds globally. BMW learned this lesson the hard way: It was an early leader in EVs, but demand for its quirky i3 hatchback, launched in 2013, proved disappointing.
Its factories were duly equipped to produce several powertrain variants on the same production line while its current EVs are styled to look similar to their combustion engine equivalents to avoid putting off customers. “A dependency on a single technology can be damaging to an industry,” Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse told investors in July. “Putting all your eggs in one basket is just poor asset allocation.”
BMW’s stubbornness has been proven right: While Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Porsche AG and Volvo Car AB have watered down their electrification ambitions amid several high-profile EV flops, BMW has stuck to its philosophy of technological openness and continues to expect EVs to contribute more than 50 per centof its sales in 2030.
It now offers EVs in all key segments and these have proven a hit — even before the arrival of the latest Neue Klasse tech. In the first half of this year, EVs made up one-quarter of BMW’s deliveries in Europe, where its battery-powered models were outsold only by Volkswagen AG and Tesla.
Admittedly, BMW is struggling in China, where it’s downsizing its dealer network following a loss of market share. It’s also facing a financial hit from US tariffs, albeit one it can offset by exporting vehicles more cheaply from its US factory to Europe (as these are expected to be subject to zero tariffs instead of 10%).
Nevertheless, BMW has coped far better with these headaches than some of its peers. While Porsche has repeatedly cut earnings guidance this year and is poised to be ejected from Germany’s blue-chip DAX Index, BMW has stuck by its forecast for its automotive activities to achieve an operating margin of between 5 per centand 7 per centin 2025 – not bad under the circumstances, although below its usual target of between 8 per centand 10%. With the heavy investments for Neue Klasse now behind it, and the batteries in its upcoming EVs set to cost far less than prior models, BMW’s margins should improve in coming years.
Yet this resilience and its entreaties that investors differentiate among European automakers (rather than tar them with the same brush) have received only a lukewarm response from investors.
While the company’s shares have outperformed its peers this year, BMW’s €56 billion market capitalization isn’t much higher than its €45 billion of automotive-related net financial assets; and it’s just a sliver of Tesla’s more than $1 trillion valuation. This probably won’t change until BMW proves it can still charge premium prices for its new products when high-tech models like Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV cost comparatively little.
Nevertheless, BMW has earned the right to take a big risk with the Neue Klasse and has clearly thought very carefully about it. Europe’s auto industry can’t avoid a reckoning — but I’m confident BMW can.
