Δήλωση του Oliver Zipse, Προέδρου του Διοικητικού Συμβουλίου της BMW AG στο Ετήσιο Συνέδριο 2026 του BMW Group.

Ακολουθεί η Δήλωση του Oliver Zipse, Προέδρου του Διοικητικού Συμβουλίου της BMW AG στο Ετήσιο Συνέδριο 2026 του BMW Group. 

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Statement

Oliver Zipse

Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG

Annual Conference 2026

BMW Welt in  Munich , 12 March 2026, 08.00 a.m.

Part I

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,

2025 was, in many ways, a remarkable year for the BMW Group – above all, one that set our course for the future.

First:

We achieved a solid financial result, with Group earnings of more than 10 billion euros. Walter Mertl will provide more detail in just a moment.

Second:

We grew in 2025 – selling more vehicles than the previous year and expanding our leadership of the global premium segment.

Third:

Our technology-open strategy continued to demonstrate its strength. Demand for cars with combustion engines remained stable, while sales of our all-electric and electrified vehicles continued to grow.

Fourth:

Once again, through our own efforts, we significantly outperformed the EU’s CO₂ fleet targets for 2025.

And finally:

We successfully began the rollout of our NEUE KLASSE with the BMW iX3* – giving the BMW brand and the entire company crucial momentum for the future.

All of this shows: We deliver. Consistently. And continuously.

We have set the right course in recent years and do not need to change our strategic direction. In this way, we can keep the company on track for long-term success.

Standing here beside me is the new BMW iX3. This vehicle marks a pivotal moment in the BMW Group’s recent history: the series launch of our NEUE KLASSE.

Production of the iX3 has successfully ramped up at our new plant in Debrecen, Hungary. First customers have already received their vehicles. Since last week, the iX3 has been in European showrooms.

Demand for the iX3 is significantly exceeding our expectations, with strong orders from both private and fleet customers. We are also attracting many new customers who have never driven a BMW before.

Our order books for the iX3 are full and reach well into this year. We are exploiting the flexibility of our production and supplier network and increasing capacity in line with demand.

The NEUE KLASSE is a huge investment. Only a company that enjoys long-term economic success, like the BMW Group, can invest in its future on such a massive scale.

This success is built on three important parameters.

I like to call this the BMW Group’s strategic triangle.

First: Our balanced global positioning in sales and production.

Second: Our attractive product line-up across all brands, serving the entire premium segment.

And third: Our consistent strategic focus on technology openness.

I’ll talk about the last two points in the second part of my remarks, after Walter Mertl has spoken.

In 2025, we delivered around 2.46 million vehicles to customers worldwide – representing sales growth of 0.5 percent compared to the previous year.

This shows that our business model is robust and resilient.

In Europe, we increased our sales by more than seven percent – delivering more than one million vehicles to customers in Europe for the first time since before COVID.

We also made significant gains in the United States, with growth of five percent – even in a saturated market.

In our markets outside the main sales regions of Europe, the U.S. and China, we also posted growth despite the overall downward trend – with an increase of 3.4 percent over the previous year.

China remains our largest single market. However, due to the intense competitive market environment, our sales development fell short of our expectations for the year. Thanks to the strong overall performance in three of our four sales regions, we nevertheless achieved growth worldwide. This confirms the strength of our global footprint.

Our worldwide presence is a decisive competitive advantage.

All BMW Group brands contributed to our 2025 result.

Electrified models across all brands as well as the models from BMW M were the main growth drivers.

The BMW brand once again maintained its position as the global number one in its segment. Demand was particularly strong for core models like the X1, X3 and X5, as well as our 3 Series and 5 Series models.

BMW M continued its success story in impressive style in 2025 – increasing its sales for the 14th consecutive year.

With more than 213,000 vehicles delivered to customers, M reached a historic all-time high. The BMW M5* and M5 Touring* and the X3 M50* were the main drivers of this success.

This provides compelling proof of the enduring appeal and growing demand for top-level performance in the premium segment.

MINI achieved significant growth thanks to its new model family. Sales increased by nearly 18 percent compared to the previous year.

The main growth driver was the most versatile model in the line-up, the MINI Countryman+ – accounting for over 32 percent of the brand’s total volume.

MINI and electromobility are a perfect fit – and our customers clearly agree.

This is underscored by an impressive achievement in 2025: For the first time, the brand delivered more than 100,000 all-electric models to customers in a single year.

That’s more than one in every three MINIs delivered. In this way, MINI is making a major contribution to the electrification of the BMW Group.

At our ultra-luxury Rolls-Royce brand, the number of hand-built motor cars delivered to clients remained on the high level of the previous year.

The value and number of requests for highly individualised Bespoke continued to increase. The Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood is currently being modernised and expanded, to provide more space for both Bespoke and the marque’s pinnacle Coachbuild products.

BMW Motorrad confirmed its strong market position in the premium segment in the financial year 2025.

Despite a global decline in the total market for motorcycles above 500 cc, the brand delivered more than 200,000 vehicles for the fourth year in a row.

Most notably, the R 1300 GS and F 900 GS played a key role in BMW Motorrad’s market success in 2025.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All of this shows that our multi-brand premium approach enables stability and growth.

Another major strength of our business model is our ability to meet diverse customer preferences, different regional requirements and technological developments in parallel.

Our electrified vehicles provide the clearest proof of this:

In 2025, we delivered more than 640,000 electrified vehicles to customers worldwide. That means they accounted for about 26 percent of our total sales – with all-electric vehicles making up around 18 percent.

Europe stands out, in particular, with electrified vehicles representing over 40 percent of sales. Plug-in hybrids were also in strong demand in 2025.

All of these factors make the BMW Group one of the leading providers of electromobility in the premium segment.

Thanks to our balanced mix of efficient drive technologies and growth in electrified vehicles, we once again outperformed the legal CO₂ requirements in the European Union.

Based on our preliminary internal calculations, we achieved fleet emissions of 90 grams of CO₂ per kilometre in Europe in 2025.

That once again places us well below the legal target – entirely through our own efforts. We do not need to rely on pooling with other manufacturers or averaging over several years.

This provides clear evidence that technology openness and effective climate protection are not mutually exclusive – but go hand in hand.

The BMW Group remains fully committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement – while setting our own ambitious targets.

For example, by 2035, we aim to reduce our CO₂ emissions by at least 60 million tonnes compared to 2019 levels – and we intend to hold ourselves accountable to this target.

We are charting our own course – something that is more important now than ever before.

On the one hand, we see that regulatory frameworks in individual markets can be extremely volatile.

On the other, we are convinced that the EU experiment of mandating electrification will not deliver the desired results – to the contrary.

For this reason, we continue to pursue a long-term, holistic decarbonisation strategy.

We are committed to providing solutions not only for new vehicles, but also for the existing fleet on the roads – based on technology openness across the entire lifecycle of our vehicles.

And for this reason, we also integrate fuels such as HVO100 and advocate for 100 percent credit in CO₂ calculations. In addition, recognising and crediting green steel would strengthen the European steel industry and safeguard jobs in Europe. Using more recycled materials in new cars reduces our climate footprint – as demonstrated by our NEUE KLASSE.

A holistic approach strengthens European value chains, secures jobs and keeps the industry competitive. At the same time, it enables effective climate protection and real CO₂ reductions.

Companies should be free to provide solutions geared towards customer needs, while also investing in appropriate new technologies to meet the European Union’s climate goals.

As a global player, we stand for free trade and collaboration. We do not believe in protectionism, but rather in the power of innovation to compete on the global stage.

However, with the Industrial Accelerator Act, the EU Commission is continuing its protectionist course while not addressing home-made challenges like high energy prices.

One thing is clear: without international value chains, the ramp-up of electromobility and the development of powerful battery technologies are not feasible.

Labels such as “Made in the EU” or “Union origin” disadvantage European companies with global value chains if they do not recognize that each Euro spent in Europe counts the same for prosperity and jobs. No matter if the car stays in Europe or is exported.

Instead, the development of expertise and production for battery cell technologies in the EU should be promoted and effectively incentivized as fast as possible.

This year, together with policymakers, we must find realistic solutions that allow us to achieve our climate goals and to strengthen our economy and competitiveness.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

2025 was shaped by very different developments:
strong growth in Europe and the US, a much more challenging situation in China, rising competitive pressure and additional headwinds from tariffs.

Nevertheless, the BMW Group continues to deliver a stable performance.

Because we acted early. We adjusted our internal cost structures and maintained our strategic direction.

This combination of strong operating performance today and a clear long-term perspective is a crucial success factor for our company.

And that brings me back to the vehicle standing next to me.

The iX3 and the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE testify to our innovation and performance.

It underlines that we are “already ahead”.

Walter Mertl will explain in more detail how our strong operating performance is reflected in our financial figures.

We will then take a look at 2026, with more new products on the way.

Part II

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Looking ahead to this year and beyond, three key factors will be decisive:

First:
For our 2026 targets: the product line-up currently available, which we have built up gradually over the past few years.

Second:
For this year and the years to come: the rollout of additional NEUE KLASSE models and integration of its technologies across the entire product range.

And third:
The tech clusters of the NEUE KLASSE, which enable rapid advances and collaboration with leading tech players worldwide.

Let’s start with the first item:

The company’s current product portfolio across our BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad brands offers a range of premium options in all key segments.

From MINI, in the urban compact-car segment, to Rolls-Royce, in the ultra-luxury class.

At the beginning of this year, we added another highly exclusive dimension to our brand portfolio: BMW ALPINA.

The long-established BMW ALPINA brand embodies maximum performance and exceptional driving comfort, combined with unique options for individualisation.

This makes it an ideal addition to our existing product range in the segment for individual, highly customised vehicles.

In this way, we are tapping into a highly profitable segment with great growth potential, positioned above the BMW brand’s top models and below our Rolls-Royce luxury brand.

Overall, the BMW Group offers one of the industry’s most comprehensive and diverse premium portfolios.

A core strength of this line-up is our consistent focus on technology openness. We committed early to a market-driven mix of different drive technologies.

With this approach, the BMW Group continues to chart its own course – enabling us to systematically respond to the diverse requirements of markets and customers well into the future.

Because we chose this path early, making the necessary investments at the right time, we can now fully realise the market potential of our products.

Today, we offer battery-electric vehicles in all relevant segments. By the end of the year, we will have a total of 20 BEVs across all brands. This will further strengthen our competitive position.

At the same time, plug-in hybrids also remain important.

This is not just a “bridging technology” – for many people, in all regions of the world, they are the only way to integrate electric, locally emission-free mobility into their everyday lives.

Together with our range of highly efficient combustion engines, this approach provides maximum flexibility – ensuring that regional market opportunities can be consistently exploited.

This strong line-up lays the core foundation for the company’s business success in 2026 – and beyond.

At the same time – and that brings me to my second point – we are systematically building on our current advantage with the NEUE KLASSE.

With the release of the BMW iX3, the market launch of the NEUE KLASSE has just begun.

But this is only the start.

Additional all-electric models with the new design and innovations of the NEUE KLASSE will follow.

Another notable highlight will be unveiled next week, when we present the BMW i3, the first variant of the next generation of the BMW 3 Series.

The new i3 brings our NEUE KLASSE right into the heart of the BMW brand.

Prepare to be amazed by what the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE can do in a vehicle like the 3 Series. It is fair to say that they take “Sheer Driving Pleasure” to a whole new level.

Here’s a sneak preview of what we will be unveiling
next week.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m looking forward to presenting this incredible car to our BMW fans worldwide next week.

After that, we will meet again at Auto China in Beijing, to introduce the Chinese version of the iX3 as the next NEUE KLASSE model.

We developed this vehicle exclusively for China, together with our local R&D team in the market.

By doing so we ensured that the product meets the specific wishes and needs of our Chinese customers.

The result: The most Chinese car we have ever built.

Initial feedback from the local media has been overwhelmingly positive – with praise, in particular, for its driving characteristics. The China-specific digital features have also been very well received.

In 2027, BMW M will usher in a new era in the high‑performance segment – with the first all-electric M vehicle with racetrack capabilities, based on the NEUE KLASSE.

Alongside development of the NEUE KLASSE, we have also created the essential conditions for a rapid ramp-up within our supplier and production network.

Production of the iX3 has successfully begun at our new plant in Debrecen.

We will start production of the new BMW i3 at our main plant here in Munich in the second half of the year. To do so, we have completely modernised the plant during ongoing operations.

From late 2027, we will build only electric vehicles in Munich.

Production of high-voltage batteries will also begin at our new plant in Irlbach-Straßkirchen in the second half of the year. This facility will supply our plants in Germany with our sixth-generation high-voltage batteries.

Our plant cluster in Shenyang, China, is also ready to build the NEUE KLASSE in China, for China.

At our largest plant, in Spartanburg in the U.S., we are systematically modernising the production system for the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE. This also includes the new high-voltage battery assembly facility in nearby Woodruff.

Across all plants in our production network, we are creating the necessary conditions to implement the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE as quickly as possible in all BMW models.

Between now and 2027 alone, we will bring more than 40 new or updated models to market.

Each of them will benefit from the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE – always tailored to concept requirements and independent of the drive technology.

The best example of this is the next generation of our BMW X5. This summer, we will officially unveil the successor to our current model.

The X5 will be the first BMW model to be offered with five different drivetrain variants: with highly efficient conventional drives, as a plug-in hybrid, battery-electric and – from 2028 – also powered by hydrogen.

In this way, we are laying the foundation to successfully meet the diverse requirements and customer needs around the world, both today and in the future.

Shortly before that, at the Beijing show, we will be showcasing the first model update to feature technologies from the NEUE KLASSE: the BMW 7 Series.

The result is an almost completely new vehicle. We are taking full advantage of the new possibilities from NEUE KLASSE technologies and raising our luxury sedan to a whole new level in terms of both appearance and technology.

That brings me to my third point:
the technology clusters of the NEUE KLASSE and their potential.

With the technology clusters developed specifically for the NEUE KLASSE and our modular approach to technology, we can integrate market-specific functionalities and content into our vehicles.

At the same time, we are strengthening our R&D capabilities to enable us to respond more quickly and flexibly to local customer needs and provide appropriate solutions.

In our key sales regions, we have already implemented numerous features in collaboration with leading local partners.

For example, in the Chinese market, we are working with Alibaba Banma to establish the next generation of intuitive in-car voice control.

In China, the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is also being expanded to include DeepSeek functionality.

In most markets, including Europe, we will be integrating Alexa+ as the centrepiece of our BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant.

Thanks to the advanced Large Language Model technology of Amazon Alexa+, our customers now benefit from an even smarter, more connected and highly personalised voice assistant.

With our driver assistance systems, we continue delivering the best-possible customer experience in each region – tailored to local requirements.

To achieve this, we work closely with selected partners.
Our guiding principle remains the same: We always strive for smart, symbiotic and safe solutions.

Last summer, we launched a new cooperation in China with Momenta. A leading local provider of ADAS technology. Outside China, we are collaborating with the American company Qualcomm.

Both collaborations focus on the co-development and integration of software that adapts to different road conditions, traffic scenarios and user needs – relying on state-of-the-art AI algorithms and data-driven methods.

These examples highlight the extraordinary flexibility and scalability of our tech clusters.

With the software-defined NEUE KLASSE, we maintain control over all systems and can deploy them simultaneously worldwide.

We are also able to rapidly integrate local technology stacks, giving our customers access to their preferred innovations and features.

Continuous over-the-air updates ensure that our vehicle software is always up to date. All functionalities are improved on an ongoing basis to permanently enhance the customer experience.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you can see, the BMW Group remains successful and highly innovative. Our current product range is one of the broadest and most attractive line-ups in the premium segment worldwide.

With the NEUE KLASSE and its technologies, we have secured a significant competitive advantage. We will leverage these strengths to drive our economic success.

However, it is also clear that our world remains unstable, and numerous risks will persist in the current financial year.

We meet these challenges with strategic consistency and with market- and opportunity-driven vision.

Our global footprint – in sales, research and development, and production – provides us with the foundation to mitigate uncertainties and respond flexibly to unforeseen events.

We will continue to build on these strengths in 2026 and in the years to come.

Thank you very much.