BMW deliveries fall 6.3% in third quarter as China sales slump 24.8%

Third-quarter deliveries fall in China

BMW delivered 551,072 vehicles worldwide in the third quarter, 6.3% fewer than a year earlier, the company said. The decline was driven by China, where deliveries fell 24.8% to 114,355 vehicles as all German manufacturers struggled in a shrinking market squeezed by a price war. Europe rose 2.7% to 235,628 vehicles and the United States grew 2.5% to 106,741. Handelsblatt reports that BMW's plant in Spartanburg means roughly half of the cars sold in the United States are not affected by the high tariffs on imports. By brand, the BMW brand fell 6.8%, Mini dropped 2.4% to 70,712 cars and Rolls-Royce lost 18%.

Electric models carry Europe

Battery-electric deliveries rose 7.2% worldwide to 110,257 vehicles in the quarter, according to N-tv, and in Europe one in three BMW delivered was electric. Handelsblatt puts European battery-electric deliveries at 81,941, up 37.5%, which makes Europe the dominant market for the segment. The iX3, the first vehicle of the Neue Klasse, is built at the new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, and drew more than 100,000 orders in Europe within a year, which N-tv describes as the most successful market launch of a BMW model so far. Sales board member Jochen Goller linked the figures to the company's direction.

Particularly the continued strong order intake for fully electric vehicles confirms our course.

Across the first nine months BMW delivered 1,707,799 vehicles, down 4.9%, according to 20 minutos, and Mini was the only brand with a positive year-to-date trend, up 6.7%. BMW has already lowered its annual forecast and expects an automotive operating margin of only 1 to 3% in 2026, according to Focus. Quarterly results are due on 4 November.

Volkswagen and the rivals

Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, delivered 1.89 million vehicles worldwide in the third quarter, 14.3% fewer than a year earlier, according to stern. In China it delivered about 406,000 vehicles, down 38.5%, while WirtschaftsWoche reports that the Chinese car market shrank 22%. Over nine months VW China deliveries fell 30.2% to 1.38 million according to stern, while WirtschaftsWoche puts the figure at 1.4 million, down 31%. N-tv reports that Mercedes-Benz lost almost a third of its China sales and that German rivals posted declines between just over 8% and nearly 20%.

Audi sales board member Martin Sander, who also oversees sales for the group, pointed to the new electric models.

The significantly declining overall market in China remains an industry-wide challenge. At the same time, our new, locally developed electric models are beginning to take effect.

WirtschaftsWoche reports that VW's internal plan targets 2.7 million vehicles in China by the end of the decade. If the nine-month trend continues, VW would sell 1.9 million cars there this year, and reaching the target would require average annual growth of about 13% over the next three years.

Job cuts and cost savings

According to 20 minutos, BMW plans to cut up to 8,000 jobs, or 5% of its total workforce, at plants worldwide during 2027. The cuts were announced at the end of June and will be carried out through voluntary departures and severance payments. The plan, agreed between the company and its works council, starts in October 2026 and is expected to save about 1,000 million euros a year from 2028.