BMW’s Q1 Global Sales Dragged By Weak Demand In China: But Retail Is Unruffled

German automaker BMW Group (BMWYY) said on Thursday that it delivered 586,149 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025, marking a dip of 1.4% from the corresponding period last year, owing to a drop in Chinese demand.

BMW’s sales saw a 6.2% growth in Europe and a 4% growth in the U.S., but fell by a steep 17.2% in China.

The group’s fully electric vehicle sales rose 32.4% to 109,516 units.

The group has multiple brands, including BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce. BMW brand vehicle sales dropped 2% due to weak demand in China, Rolls-Royce sales dropped 9.4%, while Mini brand sales rose 4.1% in the quarter.

Jochen Goller, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said that the model offensive is making an impact, with significant growth in fully electric vehicles and positive momentum from new MINI models. “One in three MINIs sold in Europe and more than one out of every two sold in China were fully electric.”

Fully electric vehicles accounted for 35.3% of MINI’s overall 64,626 sales in the quarter.

BMW’s fellow German automaker, Volkswagen, reported earlier this week that its sales in China fell by 7% in the first quarter.

However, for Volkswagen, the drop in sales in China was offset by growth in North America and Europe, and the company marked a jump of 1.4% in global sales to 2.13 million vehicles in the quarter.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BMW fell marginally within the ‘bullish’ territory while message volume remained unmoved at ‘low’ levels over the past 24 hours.

BMWYY shares are down by over 3.5% this year and by over 11% over the past 12 months

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