Auto: Electric Blitz, 40 new or revamped models from Bimmer through 2018

Munich. After reporting best-ever revenues and earnings figures for the seventh year in succession, the BMW Group intends to continue its course of sustainable and profitable growth, while also expanding its role as innovation leader. The company’s core business will be strengthened by the targeted addition of new models and continued work on the strategic areas of electric mobility and automated driving.

the BMW Group will be rejuvenating its product portfolio significantly in the coming years. “We intend to launch more than 40 new and revised models of our three premium brands on the market during 2017 and 2018. The new product offensive began successfully with the launch of the new BMW 5 Series in February, further raising the bar in the business sedan segment,” continued Krüger.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the top end of the premium segment. By 2020, the BMW Group is targeting significant sales volume growth in this area with the addition of a number of new models, including the BMW X7, to complement the BMW 7 series.

“Sustainable profitability and innovation leadership go hand in hand. Drawing on our underlying operational strength, we are therefore aiming to achieve an EBIT margin of between 8 and 10 percent in the Automotive segment for the eighth year in succession,” stated Nicolas Peter, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Finance. “By maintaining operational performance at a consistently high level, while at the same time focusing on the areas that are becoming increasingly relevant for customers, we will continue to generate sufficient resources to finance the high upfront expenditure needed to shape tomorrow’s mobility.” The BMW Group is in an extremely strong financial position, with cash funds totalling € 13,167 million at 31 December 2016 (2015: € 11,383 million). Free cash flow generated by the Automotive segment during the twelve-month period then ended amounted to € 5,792 million (2015: € 5,404 million).

Highly flexible architectures as basis for electric mobility

The BMW Group is clearly focused on pressing ahead with its successful electrification strategy. During the next decade, highly dynamic changes are set to take place in the area of electric mobility. However, not all markets and segments will develop at the same pace and the actual outcome depends on a host of factors, including regulatory requirements, which are very difficult to forecast today. Therefore, flexibility and scalability within a strong portfolio of electrified vehicles will ensure the success of the BMW Group. “A successful electrification strategy must be capable of dealing with a range of outcomes, including optimistic or more cautious scenarios. If we manage that, we will be able to reconcile sustainable mobility with sustainable profitability,” Nicolas Peter commented.

The BMW Group established itself at an early stage as a pioneer of electric mobility when it embarked on project i back in 2007. Alongside its work on the technological spearhead BMW i3, over the past ten years the BMW Group has focused on designing flexible vehicle architectures and developing suitable modules to house the electrified drivetrain. “Thanks to this approach by mid-2017 – less than four years after the launch of the BMW i3 – our range of products will include eight plug-in hybrid models and we will deliver our 200,000th electric vehicle in the course of the year,” Krüger said.