- Check against delivery –
 
Statement
Oliver Zipse
Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG
Annual Conference 2025
BMW Welt in Munich, 14 March 2025, 08:00 a.m. CET
 
Part I:
 
Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.
 
Welcome to our annual conference.
 
2025 will be a milestone year for the BMW Group in many respects – as we set the course today for our success in the decade to come.
 
Despite volatile global conditions, we remain firmly committed to growth in the current financial year. At the same time, we are bringing our largest future-focused project, the NEUE KLASSE, to the roads.
 
We have a clear plan: We remain sharply focused on innovation and sustainable growth. In 2025, we expect sales figures to rise once again. At the same time capital expenditure will decrease, as planned. This will enable us to increase our free cash flow.
 
There are four reasons for our confidence:
 
 
First:
Our strategy is robust and gives us a clear path forward. We are setting the pace in key areas. Our technology open approach remains successful and is gaining more traction. Policymakers and competitors are pivoting in our direction – which we continue to pursue systematically.
 
Second:
The BMW Group is one of our industry’s few true global players. Our extensive global footprint creates opportunities. It makes us resilient. And it provides the flexibility we need to respond effectively to external influences.
 
Third:
With BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, we have four strong brands. All of them are incredibly popular around the globe. Each has its own distinct identity and delivers emotionally compelling products for different target groups.
 
And fourth:
Our NEUE KLASSE: No other manufacturer has a project as ambitious and ground-breaking as ours about to enter production. I will come to this in the second part of my presentation.
 
Let's start with the first topic: our strategic direction.
Our technology-open approach is market-oriented. It allows us to fully leverage the available potential across all markets and regions.
 
We make no distinctions – whether we are talking about combustion engines, plug-in hybrids, all-electric vehicles or, from 2028, a hydrogen-powered car. We consistently implement design principles, innovation and the latest technologies in all our vehicles.
 
No one masters this technological diversity better than we do. Numerous national and international accolades confirm this.
 
Our approach is also gaining increasing recognition in political circles. Even our competitors are pivoting towards our strategy. We have proven that technological openness, growth and CO₂ reduction are very much compatible.
 
Let’s take a look at 2024:
 
We met our adjusted targets for the year. We delivered more than 2.45 million vehicles and achieved an EBIT margin of 6.3 percent in the Automotive Segment.
 
Our vehicles with highly efficient combustion engines remain in strong demand worldwide. At the same time, battery-electric vehicles continue to be our main growth driver.
 
Several other manufacturers – including some that only produce electric cars – saw a decline in sales. But we achieved growth with our all-electric vehicles. Even in challenging market conditions. In 2024, BEV sales once again climbed significantly year-on-year – increasing by more than 13 percent.
 
Fully-electric vehicles accounted for over 17 percent of total sales last year. Including plug-in hybrids, nearly one in four vehicles sold was electrified.
 
We are targeting further growth in e-mobility in 2025. We will hit two major milestones this year: We will reach the total of more than three million electrified vehicles and over 1.5 million BEVs sold since the launch of the BMW i3 and BMW i8.
 
Our customers can choose between over 15 BEVs across all our brands. One example is the new edition of the BMW iX*: The recently presented model update boasts an impressive electric range of over 700 kilometres in the WLTP cycle – with significantly more drive power.
 
That is BMW EfficientDynamics.
Our combination of electrified vehicles and highly efficient combustion engines also has a positive impact on our climate footprint. In 2024, the BMW Group once again outperformed its European CO2 fleet target – by more than 30 grammes. Based on our internal calculations, our fleet emissions fell below 100 grammes per kilometre in the WLTP cycle for the first time.
 
We will continue to ensure that our customers always have access to the latest technology – across all drivetrains. The key to achieving this lies in our production network’s high level of flexibility.
 
That brings me to my second point:
our global footprint.
 
The BMW Group is a true global player. Very few automotive manufacturers have such a comprehensive presence across all relevant economic regions as we do. Be it in sales, research and development, production or our supplier network. This combination gives us a strategic advantage that sets us apart from the competition in an increasingly fragmented world.
 
We remain committed to expanding our local for local approach. We are constantly improving our access to different market regions and strengthening our resilience, especially along supply chains.
One example of this is our high-voltage battery assembly plants in the three major sales regions: Europe, the Americas and China. In total, five new assembly facilities for the next generation of high-voltage batteries are being built near our production sites worldwide – complete with a local supplier network. In this way, we are already creating the necessary conditions today for successful growth in the future.
 
We are gradually adapting our production network to rising sales of electric vehicles. Late this year, our new plant in Debrecen, Hungary will become our first facility to exclusively produce all-electric vehicles. Our main plant in Munich will follow in 2027.
 
Our production follows the market and our product range aligns with demand. We build roughly the same number of vehicles in our three key market regions of Europe, the US and China as we sell there. This balanced distribution is another key differentiator for the BMW Group.
 
At the same time, Germany and the US serve as key export hubs for us. In 2024, we manufactured over one million vehicles at our plants in Germany. This represents about a quarter of the country’s total car production. 56 percent of these vehicles are then exported outside the European Union.
An impressive proof of the BMW Group's significant contribution to industrial value creation in Germany.
 
In the US, one out of every two vehicles from our Plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is exported. Last year, we achieved an export value of over 10 billion US dollars. This once again makes the BMW Group the largest automotive exporter in the United States by value. We benefit from an integrated global economy. That is why we continue to advocate for open markets and free trade.
 
Third point: the performance of our brands.
 
The success of the BMW Group is built on the global appeal and resonance of our four brands. At the same time, we know how to fulfil the specific needs and preferences of our customers in different markets with our products.
 
Last year, our core BMW brand leveraged its strength to the full: In three out of four regions, BMW grew sales and gained market share. This has enabled BMW to maintain its number one position in the global premium segment.
 
BMW performed particularly well in Europe. Italy, Spain, France and the UK led the way, with all reporting double-digit growth rates.
With a six-percent increase, the brand significantly outperformed the overall European market, which only grew by just over one percent.
 
In the US market, we achieved record sales for the second consecutive year. Here, too, the strength of our market-driven approach to drivetrains is delivering results. Thanks to our steadily growing BEV portfolio, we sold more than 50,000 electric vehicles in the US for the first time. With this momentum, we are optimistic about the year ahead, as we celebrate “50 years of BMW North America”.
 
In our markets outside the main sales regions, we also posted growth, in a declining environment overall. In this region, we lead the premium segment in total for the first time ever. The main growth drivers here included the South Korean, Australian and Indian markets.
 
China remains a key market for the BMW Group. In 2024, we sold more than a quarter of all our vehicles there. The market is highly dynamic and characterised by increased competitive pressure. In this environment, BMW maintained nonetheless its position as the number one in its segment with a market share of three per cent. This put us within our target range.
 
In 2024, we delivered over 100,000 BEVs to customers in China for the first time. This makes China our biggest single market for electric vehicles – even though our sales performance there was dampened last year by persistently low consumer sentiment.
 
The high-margin vehicles built by BMW M once again played an important role in our market success in 2024. For the 13th consecutive year, M sales increased. Nearly one in ten BMWs sold carried the letter M. Demand for the sportiest BMW models has continued to grow, especially in China.


2025 is the first year with the complete New MINI Family available. And we will exploit this potential.
 
There are a total of five unique models to choose from – three of them BEVs. The fully-electric MINI models – with the MINI Cooper Electric* leading the way – are being particularly well received. With an increase of 24 percent year-on-year, sales of MINI BEVs also saw highly dynamic growth last year. Nearly one in four MINIs is now powered by an electric heart.
 
In the ultra-luxury segment, Rolls-Royce continues to set the benchmark. At more than 5,700 units, Rolls-Royce sales remain high.
Most notably, the all-electric Spectre exceeded expectations in its first full year of sales. Every third Rolls-Royce sold is now fully-electric.
 
BMW Motorrad also impressed in 2024, achieving a new all-time sales high of over 210,000 units. BMW Motorrad remains the undisputed number one in the global premium motorcycle segment.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
All of this shows that the BMW Group is well positioned across all brands, drive technologies and segments to continue on its growth path. With our global approach, we have the right answers to challenges worldwide. This has often enabled us to offset fluctuations in demand in individual markets.
 
Now, it is time for Walter Mertl to present the Group Financial Statements for 2024 and look ahead to our goals for 2025.

 
Part II:
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Growth and innovation – these are two of the main topics we will be focusing on this year. At the same time, we stand on the threshold of a new era.
 
Late this year, we will launch our NEUE KLASSE: a project that is unprecedented in both form and significance in the history of the BMW Group.
 
With the NEUE KLASSE, we will be turning the mobility of the future into reality. Driving dynamics, drivetrain, battery technology, operating concept, digitalisation: We have refined each of these aspects and, in the case of design, even skipped a generation.
 
In this way, we are redefining not only the BMW brand, but also the future of individual mobility.
 
Standing here next to me is the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X: the series version of this vehicle will kick off the NEUE KLASSE. Production will ramp up at our new plant in Debrecen late this year.
After that, the rollout will continue in rapid succession, including a sporty sedan at the core of the BMW brand in 2026.
 
We are deliberately starting out in high-volume segments: We want our innovations to have a broad impact, not just in niche segments.
 
Between now and 2027, we will release more than 40 new or updated BMW models onto the market – from electric to plug-in hybrid to vehicles with combustion engines. Each will have the DNA of the NEUE KLASSE.
 
The NEUE KLASSE is BMW and BMW is the NEUE KLASSE.
 
The NEUE KLASSE is more than just a single vehicle. It marks the beginning of a completely new generation and introduces our technology boosters for the entire brand. Regardless of the drive technology, all future BMW models will benefit from the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE – and, of course, also from the new design language.
 
Allow me to share a few examples of our groundbreaking advances in technology:
 
With the BMW Panoramic iDrive, we are re-imagining our typical BMW driver orientation. The all new BMW Panoramic Vision is the centrepiece. This newly-developed additional Head-Up Display projects content across the full width of the windscreen.
 
Seamless integration of various display and operating elements enables a completely new level of intuitive interaction. From the launch of the very first model of the NEUE KLASSE, all future BMW models will come with BMW Panoramic iDrive.
 
The sixth generation of our BMW eDrive technology will make e-mobility even more appealing to our customers. The new BMW round cells promise 20 percent higher energy density, 30 percent faster charging and at least 30 percent more range. And within just 10 minutes, enough energy for another 300 kilometres can be recharged.
 
For the first time, the Gen6 high-voltage batteries also feature the latest 800-volt technology and enable bi-directional charging. Compared to the current fifth generation, we will reduce the cost of the high voltage battery by 40-50 percent, on a comparable electric range basis.
 
The electronics architecture has also been completely redesigned. Going forward, its four high-performance computers will control key customer functionalities. For example driving dynamics, automated driving and infotainment.
 
These “super-brains” deliver more than 20 times the in-vehicle computing power than current systems. This makes our models future-proof for software and function updates, as well as new AI features.
 
We have also greatly simplified the electrical system, dividing it into four zones, with intelligent control. 600 metres less wiring, a 30 percent reduction in weight and a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency are just some of the improvements we will achieve with this.
 
And, of course, we are also harnessing technical opportunities to take driving dynamics to a whole new level.
 
The BMW Vision Driving Experience showcases the potential of the technologies introduced in the NEUE KLASSE. We are pushing driving dynamics to its physical limits.
 
This highly emotional driving machine will thrill more than just BMW fans.
 
The VDX is the most powerful development prototype BMW has ever built. We are using it to test our “Heart of Joy” – one of the four super-brains in the NEUE KLASSE.
 
We developed the software for the driving dynamics control system entirely in-house. This will be used in all future electric BMW models, setting new standards for dynamic performance and efficiency.
 
It is hard to put into words exactly how it feels behind the wheel. You simply have to experience it.
 
Take a look for yourselves at what our “Heart of Joy” can do, paired with a maximum torque of 18,000 Newton meters.
 
You can't fake that kind of enthusiasm. Our Board of Management already had the chance to drive the series version of the NEUE KLASSE. Let me tell you: We were all equally excited about the driving experience – but not just in terms of pushing the physical limits. Most importantly, we were deeply impressed by the added value our technologies create for our customers in everyday situations.
 
This is truly the next level of Sheer Driving Pleasure.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
We first announced the NEUE KLASSE at our Annual Conference back in 2021. Today, just four years later, we are entering the final stretch.
 
Standing next to me is one of the prototype vehicles we have been producing in Debrecen since late last year.
 
What is still hidden under camouflage foil here will be unveiled at the IAA MOBILITY in Munich in early September. There we will present the production model that will be available to our customers.
 
I can already reveal one key detail to you today: this BMW will be released onto the market as the BMW iX3. This is how we continue the success story of the first all-electric BMW X model that has won over BMW fans worldwide since 2020.
 
Testing of the BMW iX3 is in full swing.
 
These impressions show that the next BMW iX3 is a typical X model, and a BMW through and through. As I’m sure you saw at the end of the film: The final phase of development for the sporty sedan, the second NEUE KLASSE vehicle, is also progressing rapidly.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
What has always set the BMW Group apart is that we keep our sights set on operational performance in the here and now. At the same time, we lay the foundation for our long-term future success.
 
We will continue to consistently pursue our BMW path – with foresight, customer focus, self-confidence and in the knowledge of our strengths.
 
We are ready. More than ever.
 
Thank you.
 

- Check against delivery –

Statement

Walter Mertl

Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance

Annual Conference 2025

BMW Welt in Munich, 14 March 2025, 08:00 a.m. CET

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!

SLIDE: BMW Group in Full-Year 2024

As Oliver emphasized, we continue to follow our course and implement our long-term strategy. At the same time, we are focused on our operational business to consistently deliver on what we say.

The BMW Group proved this once again in Q4 2024:

We successfully reduced inventory impacted by the Integrated Braking System or IBS. And we achieved a sequential improvement in retail sales and profit versus Q3.

For the full year, we achieved our revised guidance in all parameters.

As anticipated, we reached peak levels of R&D and capital expenditure in 2024, particularly to prepare for models of the NEUE KLASSE. Starting this year, both the R&D and capex ratios will decrease meaningfully, as we start production of the NEUE KLASSE and lay the foundation for the long-term success of our company with over 40 new and updated models by 2027.

Through our global positioning and the flexibility of our operations, we can adapt to the geopolitical landscape and short-term market dynamics, proving our resilience.

Let’s take a look at the financial figures for the full year.

2024 was a year of two halves:

While the first half-year was in line with our original planning, sales performance in the second half of the year was impacted by delivery stops in connection with IBS, as well as persistent subdued demand in China. As expected, Q4 marked an improvement on the Q3 result.

SLIDE: BMW Group KPIs in FY24

Group revenues totaled 142.4 billion euros. The moderate decrease compared to 2023 was mainly driven by the decline in sales volume and intense price competition in the Chinese market.

Earnings before Tax at Group level amounted to 11 billion euros – significantly under 2023, but as expected in our adjusted guidance. This resulted in a Group EBT Margin of 7.7% for the year.

SLIDE: BMW Group Segment Performance in FY24

If we look at the key financial results of the individual segments:

Automotive delivered an EBIT of 7.89 billion euros and EBIT margin of 6.3%.

Motorrad had an EBIT of 198 million euros, representing a margin of 6.1%.

Financial Services saw an EBT of 2.54 billion euros and a Return on Equity of 15.1%.

And, finally, Other Entities generated 837 million euros in EBT, while eliminations amounted to a negative 146 million euros.

SLIDE: Automotive Retail Units, BEV Units, Auto Revenue and Auto EBIT in FY24

So, let’s take a look at the Automotive Segment in detail:

For the full year, the BMW Group delivered 2.45 million BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles to customers worldwide. This represents a slight decrease of 4% from the previous year, in line with our adjusted guidance.

Market dynamics in China remain weak, which impacted sales performance. However, the BMW brand achieved growth in every other major region.

In Europe, order intake in Q4 improved month by month. In the US, we experienced a strong recovery from IBS in Q4 with growth quarter-over-quarter of just over 50% and year-over-year of 8.9%.

Worldwide BMW Group sales performance in Q4 saw sequential improvement over Q3. Global deliveries grew by nearly a third quarter-on-quarter including double digit growth coming from the mid- and upper-segment together. 

All-electric vehicles remained a key growth driver for us. BEV deliveries totaled over 426,000 units for the year, significantly above 2023 by 13.5%. Overall, BEVs therefore made up 17.4% of total sales.

Our plug-in hybrid vehicles also remained very popular, with over 166,000 units sold in 2024. Electrified vehicles – meaning all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids – made up nearly a quarter of total sales.

Revenues in the Automotive segment amounted to nearly 125 billion euros, a decrease of 5.6% from 2023.

Earnings before interest and taxes reached 7.9 billion euros. This resulted in an EBIT margin of 6.3%, which was within our adjusted guidance corridor of 6 to 7 percent for the full year.

Excluding the 1.3 billion euros depreciation resulting from the purchase price allocation of BBA, the Automotive EBIT margin came in at 7.4% for the year.

SLIDE: Automotive EBIT Development in FY24

Looking to the operating result in detail:

Compared to 2023, EBIT for full-year 2024 saw a tailwind of 1 billion euros from the net balance of currency and raw material positions.

Year on year, the net effect of volume, model mix and pricing weighed on Automotive EBIT. The headwind resulted partly from the volume decrease, particularly in China. Pricing headwinds, including the effects of a highly competitive Chinese market and dealer compensation in China, amounted to more than half of the overall decrease of 4.4 billion euros.

The headwind of 1.4 billion euros from Other cost changes was driven by inflation in material costs and supply chain support.

The effect from warranty expenses was a tailwind year-on-year. Overall, lower additions to warranty provisions for specific topics were necessary in every quarter throughout 2024 compared to the previous year. An exception was Q3, due to the impact of IBS. For the full year 2024, the P&L impact of quality issues trended in a positive direction year-on-year, as planned.

SLIDE: R&D Expenditure in FY24

SLIDE: Capital Expenditure in FY24

Our R&D activities and investments focused on our ongoing electrification and digitalization strategy across the entire portfolio. As anticipated, R&D and capital expenditure reached peak levels in 2024 – both in absolute terms and in ratio.

Group expenditure for research and development for the full year reached 9.1 billion euros, compared to 7.8 billion euros in 2023. The R&D ratio according to the German Commercial Code was 6.4%, 1.4 percentage points more than in 2023.

Group capital expenditure totaled 9.1 billion euros, an increase from 8.8 billion euros in 2023. This resulted in a capex ratio of 6.4%, compared to 5.7% in 2023.

As we begin to rollout models of the NEUE KLASSE, we will see a decline in R&D and capex. This means in both absolute and relative terms, back towards our strategic corridors of between 4 to 5% for R&D and less than 5% for Capex by 2027 at the latest.

SLIDE: Automotive Segment Free Cash Flow in FY24

Turning to free cash flow – as you know, we steer this on an annual basis.

Starting with EBT delivering a full year result of 7.5 billion euros, working capital contributed positively with 200 million euros to free cash flow. Whilst inventory levels had risen due to sales stops related to IBS in Q3, we managed to successfully reduce stock by 5 billion euros in Q4. As a result, year-end inventory reached nearly the same level as it was at the beginning of the year.

For the full year, the net effect from capital expenditure and depreciation reduced free cash flow by 3.3 billion euros.

The development of provisions reduced free cash flow by 700 million euros.

The position “Other” reflects several positive effects, including interest received.

In line with our adjusted guidance, free cash flow reached 4.9 billion euros in 2024.

This is even after we invested 18.2 billion euros: 9.1 billion euros in CapEx and another 9.1 billion euros in R&D, paving the way for our future, and demonstrating our financial strength.

This strength is underscored by our Automotive net financial assets, which benefitted from the strong development of free cash flow in the fourth quarter. At year end, the Automotive NFA came in at almost 46 billion euros, which is around the same level as the start of the year.

SLIDE: Financial Services Segment in FY24

Moving on to the Financial Services Segment.

New business development in the segment remained robust throughout the year. A total of almost 1.7 million new financing and leasing contracts were concluded, a solid year-on-year increase of nearly 10%.

Overall, new business volume even increased significantly by 12.5% to 64.5 billion euros, due to higher average financing volume per vehicle.

Penetration rates for lease and loan offerings rose by 4.4 percentage points, reaching 42.6%. Without China, the penetration rate was over 50%, with growth in particular in the US and the UK.

Segment earnings before tax amounted to 2.54 million euros and were therefore significantly lower than the previous year. This was mainly due to higher credit and residual value risk costs than in 2023, but well within our expectations. We continue to see gains from the sale of off-lease vehicles, yet at lower levels due to market dynamics.

The credit loss ratio of 0.26% across the entire credit portfolio was well within our expectations and below industry levels.

Return on Equity for the full year reached 15.1%, within our adjusted guidance range of 15 to 18%.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In our BMW Group Report, you will note that we have voluntarily adopted the full European Sustainability Reporting Standards for the first time as the framework for reporting all sustainability-related disclosures in our combined non-financial statement.

The BMW Group only reports on sustainability topics that have been assessed as “material” according to ESRS. However, this does not mean that topics which are assessed as “not-material” are necessarily less important.

We view sustainability holistically and as a competitive advantage. That is why we disclose our sustainability performance to our investors and customers.

You will note that the implementation of ESRS requirements have contributed over 100 additional pages to our Report. Due to the company-specific materiality assessment, comparability between companies remains limited – even within the same industry.

Indeed, it can be questioned how much value the additional scope and limited comparability offer to stakeholders. Accordingly, we welcome the proposed regulatory changes in the draft of the so-called Omnibus package and look forward to the draft updates and reduced scope of the ESRS.

Ultimately, we want added value for our stakeholders – meaning relevant and concise information. It’s not just about reporting and compliance.

SLIDE: Proposed Dividend and Payout Ratio

One important element of our stakeholder orientation is our shareholder return strategy, which the BMW Group remains committed to.

The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of 4.30 euros per share of common stock and 4.32 euros per share of preferred stock to the Annual General Meeting. This results in a total dividend payout of 2.7 billion euros. 

The proposed dividend for 2024 represents a payout ratio of 36.7%. This is within our long-term strategic target range of 30-40% and notably higher than the payout ratio in 2023.

On January 2nd, we began the final tranche of our ongoing second share buyback program, which should be completed by latest April 30th. This will conclude the second program – with 2 billion euros – more than half a year earlier than initially planned.

By this point in time, we will have reduced a total of 47 million shares in circulation since the start of the share buyback authorization in 2022. This corresponds to over 7% reduction in share capital.

At the upcoming AGM, the Board of Management of BMW AG plans to propose an agenda item, seeking a new five-year authorization to acquire treasury shares amounting to up to 10 percent of share capital.

You will have noted that we have made a step change in our approach since 2021. Starting in 2022, we added share buybacks as an additional instrument alongside dividend payments. We have also increasingly used the range of dividend payout corridor. And we increased the share of Automotive free cash flow distributed to shareholders from the previous years’ levels to almost 100% this year.

So, let’s move to the Outlook for 2025.

Looking to the market development:

Due to stabilizing inflation and declining interest rates in many countries, we expect to see a rise in demand.

How will the BMW Group’s sales performance develop this year?

Given the robust economic situation, we anticipate a solid market development in the US. In Europe, we do expect growth driven by electrified vehicles. The market dynamics in China, however, will remain challenging.

For the full year, revenues per vehicle in the Automotive segment are expected to be in the same range as 2024.

Our guidance reflects the current status of our planning, including all the tariff increases in force as of March 12th, 2025.

SLIDE: Outlook 2025

What do we expect for our key performance indicators in 2025?

Let me focus on selected guidance parameters.

In the Automotive Segment we are forecasting a slight increase in deliveries of BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce vehicles.

In terms of profitability, the total impact of the tariff increases in place as of March 12th amounts to approximately 1 percentage point on the Auto EBIT margin. As a result, the EBIT margin is now expected between 5 to 7%. Consequently, Return on Capital Employed in the Automotive segment should be within a range of 9 to 13%.

In the Financial Services segment, we anticipate a Return on Equity of 13 to 16%.

The Group’s pre-tax profit is expected to remain at the previous year’s level.

Starting January 1st, 2025, we have adjusted the outlook range for Group EBT guidance. The existing bandwidth was too narrow to reflect the underlying movements in the segments. For details, please refer to the glossary of the BMW Group Report.

The full outlook for 2025 for all key performance indicators is also available in the BMW Group Report.

For the full year 2025, we expect a free cash flow in the Automotive Segment of over 5 billion euros.

SLIDE: Closing

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The BMW Group remains fully focused on achieving our short-term results without compromising our long-term strategic objectives.

We remain committed to our long-term target corridor of 8 to 10% EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment.

To that end, we are constantly enhancing our operational business to ensure we achieve our strategic priorities and optimize our returns.

So, after the peak in 2024, we not only expect to see a turnaround in R&D expenditure and CapEx in 2025, but also a turnaround in operational costs. And here I mean a cost decrease in nominal terms, covering the effects of inflation. This will become visible over the course of the year.

At the BMW Group, strong brands and emotional products have long built the foundation of our success.

With the technological boost from the NEUE KLASSE across the entire portfolio, we look forward to seeing the benefits from our investments start hitting the road later this year.

- Check against delivery –

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the BMW Group, we always focus on opportunities in the current market, as well as on our long-term success.

We ensure this by acting in a flexible, forward-looking manner.

After the extraordinary challenges in the third quarter, we are looking ahead: In the fourth quarter, we are back on track for stronger earnings in order to achieve our annual targets, despite planned high upfront expenditures.

We continuously adapt to changes in our environment – without ever reacting rashly. We continue to steer our strategic course into the future, while avoiding short-term adjustments that could jeopardise our long-term success.

Our commitment to technology openness has proven its value – and is paying off today more than ever.

Our global positioning across sales, production and our supplier network secures us access to markets worldwide.

BMW is a global company with a strong presence in all relevant economic regions. I regularly take the time to see this for myself. This doesn't work at a distance, but is best done when you are on the ground.

So, over the past three months, I have visited markets in all of our four sales regions – in Europe, the Americas, China and our emerging “Fourth Pillar Region”, which includes Southeast Asia and the Middle East, among others.

Our global approach has often allowed us to compensate for fluctuating demand in individual markets. Of course, we are monitoring current developments in China very closely. The economic conditions there are challenging – and that applies to all market participants.

However, it’s our ambition to perform better than our competitors, even in a challenging environment.

The key to this lies in our highly attractive product line-up. This enabled the BMW brand to deliver solid sales growth in Europe in the first nine months of the year.

With sales up by over 7 percent, we are significantly outperforming the total European market and expanding our market share.

There was particularly high demand

• in the UK, with an increase of 21 percent,
• in Spain, plus 19 percent,
• in Italy, up 17 percent,

and in France, with a gain of 14 percent.

And the BMW brand is also growing in markets such as South Korea, Australia and India.

Global demand for our high-margin models in the upper vehicle segments remains stable. The high-performance cars of BMW M reported sales growth of two percent in the year to the end of September. This month also sees the market launch of the latest M model many fans have been waiting for: the BMW M5 Touring*.

We are constantly expanding our product range across all drive variants in line with customer demand. Our highly flexible production network allows us to tap market potential.

This applies in particular to our all-electric models. In virtually every relevant segment, the BMW Group has at least one pure electric vehicle.

Across BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, customers have a choice of more than 15 different models. This means that the BMW Group has one of the broadest ranges of fully-electric vehicles among its competitors.

Sales in the first nine months of the year underscore the success of the BMW Group’s electrification strategy.

While other manufacturers – including some that only produce electric cars – are seeing a significant decrease in sales, battery-electric vehicles remain a growth driver for us in 2024.

By the end of September, we had sold almost 300,000 BEVs – an increase of more than 19 percent compared to the same period of last year. In the third quarter, battery-electric vehicles already accounted for 19 percent of the BMW Group’s total sales.

The BMW brand's fully-electric models performed particularly well in Europe – with sales climbing 36 percent in the first nine months.

Globally, BMW’s strong BEV portfolio fed growth in deliveries of more than 22 percent. The BMW i4* remains the brand's most popular electric vehicle.

It is closely followed by the BMW iX1*, which – like the BMW i7* – recorded double-digit growth. The first all-electric BMW iX2* is also on track for success following its market launch.

The new all-electric MINI models – led by the MINI Cooper SE* – are also being very well received. With a sales increase of 54 percent, MINI BEVs experienced highly dynamic growth in the third quarter. Starting this month, the all-electric MINI Aceman* will also be available in Europe.

For the first time, MINI is also electrifying its John Cooper Works variants. The MINI John Cooper Works Electric* and MINI John Cooper Works Aceman* celebrated their premiere at the Paris Motor Show.

Performance and driving dynamics are the clear focal point in both models. From January 2025 onwards, they will captivate even the most dedicated motorsport fans.

Looking ahead to next year, we anticipate another significant increase in sales of fully and partially electrified vehicles. For that reason, we see no need to modify or delay the European Union's stricter CO2 fleet targets for 2025.

We have been working intensively to meet these new fleet targets for a very long time. We are therefore confident that we will also meet the stricter requirements for 2025, as we have consistently in the last years.

Nevertheless, we believe that a comprehensive and critical review of CO2 fleet legislation in the EU following 2025 is absolutely essential.

What matters most is every tonne of CO2 we can save today – not sometime in the future. This is why the use of low-CO2 fuels, such as e-fuels, E25 or HVO100, should also be revisited. These fuels could immediately improve the carbon footprint of the more than 250 million vehicles already on roads in the EU.

By 2030, all-electric vehicles will account for more than 50 percent of our total sales. The rollout of our fully-electric NEUE KLASSE will play an important part in this.

The NEUE KLASSE is now entering the final straight – and we are keeping this forward-looking project on track. With a new design, the next generation of electric drives and a comprehensive digital experience, the NEUE KLASSE will set completely new standards.

In just under a year, the first series-production SAV model of the NEUE KLASSE will roll off the line at our new plant in Debrecen, Hungary. This will soon be followed by a sporty sedan from our main plant in Munich.

Preparations for the launch are progressing well:

• In early October, we reached an important milestone in Debrecen, with the start of pre-series production.
• At Plant Landshut, pre-series production of electric-engine housings for the NEUE KLASSE has already begun.
• In Munich, construction of the new assembly for the NEUE KLASSE is progressing in parallel with ongoing production.

With the NEUE KLASSE, we will elevate our entire vehicle portfolio to a whole new level of innovation. This will be possible thanks to our use of technology clusters, which can be integrated into all future vehicles.

In this way, all our products will benefit from the technological leaps we will achieve with the NEUE KLASSE. This applies not only to our all-electric vehicles, but across all drive technologies.

Our continued, systematic implementation of technology openness also ensures that we will continue to offer the latest ICE models in the coming years.

In 2028, we will introduce another element to our drive train portfolio: the BMW Group’s first series-produced fuel cell vehicle.

Hydrogen will play an increasingly important role in decarbonisation. This makes vehicles with a fuel cell drive train a logical complement to established drive technologies. 

To develop the new generation of fuel cell drive trains, we are deepening our long-standing cooperation with Toyota. We announced this in September together with Toyota CEO Koji Sato.

This collaboration also shares the goal of expanding infrastructure for hydrogen refuelling and electric vehicle charging.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The European automotive industry currently faces fundamentally different challenges from those we have faced in the past.

We are not dealing with a singular, overarching occurrence.

Instead, we are facing a tangle of critical influencing factors that keep growing in number.

In such a phase, we do not need short-term incentives that only create a fleeting impact. What global companies truly need is a reliable and binding framework for progress and prosperity.

It should be up to each company to find the best technological solutions to meet legal requirements and to further reduce CO2 emissions.

Instead, more and more obstacles are constantly being placed in the way of existing successful technologies. As a result, potential for reducing CO2 emissions cannot be utilized. At the same time, decisions are being made that even harm the industry.

The introduction of tariffs on electric vehicles imported into the EU from China is just one example. Import duties do NOT make European manufacturers any more competitive.

On the contrary: They undermine the business models of companies that operate globally.

And, since these tariffs mainly affect small electric cars built by European manufacturers, they could even impede the growth of e-mobility.

Measures like these are also inconsistent with the EU value of free trade. Free movement of goods is a key success factor for economic growth – not just within the European Union, but globally.

Free trade remains a guiding principle for the BMW Group – and we will continue to advocate for it. Because protectionism always carries the risk that measures will provoke countermeasures – ultimately hurting everyone involved, rather than benefitting any of them.

We operate as a global player, making it all the more important to maintain our strategy of balanced global positioning. This applies as much to our sales and production network as to our selection of suppliers.

We continue to systematically expand our “local for local” approach – making our supply chains more resilient and improving our access to different market regions.

And while Germany’s future as an industrial location may be questioned by some, we are making investments here.

In Irlbach-Straßkirchen in Bavaria, we are building a new assembly plant for the latest generation of high-voltage batteries. They will be used for the first time in the NEUE KLASSE.

A total of five new assembly plants are under construction near our production sites worldwide, across all three major sales regions – Europe, the Americas and China.

In this way, we are already laying the foundation today for successful growth in the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This past quarter, we faced a series of extraordinary challenges.

One of the BMW Group’s biggest strengths is our ability to consistently find the right solutions and implement the necessary steps swiftly and efficiently.

Our company maintains a robust global presence. Our strategic direction for the future is solid. We are carefully adapting our approach to changing conditions and planning for a range of scenarios.

We continue to be guided by the developments we can realistically expect to see in different regions of the world.

The fourth quarter will demonstrate that our measures – despite all the ongoing challenges – yield positive results. We therefore approach the final quarter of the current financial year with a sense of confidence.

We are striking a balance between securing short-term earnings and long-term success: This year, we are investing more than ever in new products, technologies and our plants, so that we can continue the BMW success story with the NEUE KLASSE from next year onwards.

Thank you.

- Check against delivery –

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning,

SLIDE 2: BMW Group Half-Year Report to 30 June 2024

The BMW Group remains on track and confirms its targets for 2024, despite the volatile market environment.

After a successful start to the year, we again achieved an EBIT margin for the Automotive Segment within our full year target range of 8-10 percent in the second quarter, thanks to our attractive product portfolio.

At the same time, we are continuing to invest in our future model line-up and securing the company’s long-term competitiveness.

SLIDE 3: Highlights of BMW Group Performance in Q2 2024

As of June, BMW Group global sales remained on par with last year.

The BMW brand grew by 2.3 percent globally or 6.2 percent if we exclude the Chinese market.

Global growth drivers are our all-electric vehicles and models from the upper premium segment, both of which saw a double-digit increase.

The Group EBT margin came in at 10.5 percent for the second quarter and 10.9 percent for the first half-year.

The Automotive EBIT margin reached 8.4 percent in the second quarter and 8.6 percent for the half-year, both within our full year target range of 8 to 10 percent.

Excluding the depreciation resulting from the purchase price allocation of BBA, the margins came in at 9.4 percent for the second quarter and 9.6 percent through six months.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The BMW Group is committed to maintaining its strategic focus.

We have a clear plan and a long-term strategy that we are implementing systematically.

At the same time, we remain highly flexible in our execution and are able to respond swiftly to market developments.

This enables our operating business to deliver consistently good results.

SLIDE 4: BMW Group in Q2

Let’s take a look at the financial figures in the second quarter in more detail, starting with a brief overview of the Group.

BMW Group revenues were on par with the previous year.

Group earnings before tax totalled around 3.9 billion euros, resulting in a Group EBT margin of 10.5 percent.

SLIDE 5: Automotive Retail Units, BEV Units, Auto Revenue and Auto EBIT

On this slide you can see how the Automotive Segment performed across key figures.

In the second quarter, the BMW Group delivered approximately 619,000 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles to customers.

The BMW brand reported sales growth of 2.2 percent.

MINI, on the other hand, saw a significant decrease from the previous year, due to the planned model changeover across the entire product range.

However, in the second half of the year, the brand will benefit from the ramp-up of the New MINI Family, with the Countryman* and Cooper*, both available in several drivetrains, as well as the all-electric Aceman*.

We continue to see sales growth of our all-electric vehicles.

The BMW Group delivered about 108,000 BEVs to customers in the second quarter. This represents 17.4 percent of our total sales.

Our electrified vehicles – in other words, BEVs, plus plug-in hybrids – accounted for almost 24 percent of total sales in the second quarter.

Segment revenues increased slightly by 1.4 percent.

Adjusted for currency translation effects, revenues saw an increase of 2.1 percent.

The significant growth in all-electric vehicles and models from the upper premium segment contributed to this. The current trend is also expected to have a positive effect on revenues for the remainder of 2024.

Revenue per wholesale unit across the entire product portfolio is expected to be in line with last year’s level.

EBIT for the period from April to June totalled 2.7 billion euros.

The EBIT margin came in at 8.4 percent for the quarter and 8.6 percent for the half-year.

Excluding the depreciation resulting from the purchase price allocation of BBA, the EBIT margin was 9.4 percent for the second quarter and 9.6 percent through six months.

That brings me to the EBIT bridge, to explain in more detail the changes in the operating result, compared to the second quarter of the previous year.

SLIDE 6: Automotive Segment EBIT in Q2

The net balance of currency and commodity positions provided a tailwind of 500 million euros over last year’s second quarter.

For the full year 2024, we anticipate a positive net balance from currency and commodity positions.

This is expected to nearly offset material cost headwinds. However, we see additional requests for supply chain support.

The net balance of volume, model mix and pricing effects in the second quarter was about 300 million euros lower year-on-year.

Volume development and the model mix made a positive contribution to this.

The global price environment for new and used cars continued to normalise in the second quarter.

The Chinese market, in particular, remains highly competitive.

For the full year 2024, we expect the net effect from volumes, model mix and prices to be neutral over last year.

Research and development expenses increased by about 100 million euros compared to the prior-year quarter.

The BMW Group's research and development expenditure remained at a high level through the end of June, totalling almost 4.2 billion euros.

The R&D ratio according to the German Commercial Code was at 5.7 percent after the first six months.

The capitalization ratio for development costs, which is relevant for R&D costs according to IFRS, was 34 percent in the second quarter and 30.8 percent as of June.

Selling and administrative expenses increased by around 100 million euros compared to the previous year, primarily driven by personnel costs and expenses for IT projects.

The headwind of 200 million euros from Other Cost Changes can mainly be attributed to manufacturing costs. Here, inflation in material costs continues to have an impact.

SLIDE 7: Automotive Segment Free Cash Flow in Q2

Free cash flow in the Automotive Segment totalled 1 billion euros in the second quarter.

The change in working capital, amounting to 500 million euros, is largely due to the planned increase in inventory levels. This ensures we can continue to meet global demand for our products in the second half of the year.

The net effect from capital expenditure and depreciation reduced free cash flow by 400 million euros in the second quarter.

Total investments for April to June amounted to around 2.6 billion euros.

The capex ratio came in at 5.8 percent for the second quarter and 4.7 percent for the half-year.

As in the previous years, the major share of capital expenditure will occur in the second half of the year and especially in the fourth quarter.

We expect a capex ratio of more than six percent for the full year.

Changes to provisions positively impacted free cash flow in the second quarter by around 100 million euros.

The change in the position Other of around 800 million euros mainly reflects regular tax payments.

After the first six months, Automotive Segment free cash flow had reached just over 2.3 billion euros.

The difference in free cashflow compared to 2023 is due to the capex increase of around 1 billion euros.

We expect to see a positive contribution from a reduction in working capital.

For the full year, we are targeting a free cash flow of over six billion euros.

Since 2022, we have made a paradigm shift in our shareholder return strategy by adding a share buyback programme that supplements our annual dividend payout.

In doing so, we have increased the payout ratio of Automotive Free Cashflow by paying dividends in our target corridor of 30 to 40 percent as well as using the share buyback program.

BMW AG is continuing with its share repurchase programme as planned. At the end of June, it had acquired shares equivalent to 5.51 percent of the existing share capital as of June 30th.

The second tranche of the second programme, totalling 500 million euros, was completed in June.

The third tranche of 500 million euros, which began in June, will be concluded no later than December 31st.

By the end of 2024, BMW AG will have repurchased shares valued at 1.5 billion euros as part of the second programme, which amounts to 2 billion euros.

SLIDE 8: Net Financial Assets

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The BMW Group has a solid and robust balance sheet, confirming the company's considerable financial strength.

This is also underscored by our net financial assets in the automotive business, which totalled just over 43 billion euros.

Starting with the Half-Year Report 2024, we are changing the way we report net financial assets in our automotive business.

In addition to the Automotive Segment’s NFA that was previously reported, the new figure also includes the NFA of holding companies within the Other Entities Segment, which receive regular distributions from their subsidiaries.

I trust that this new, comprehensive definition of Net Financial Assets provides you with useful additional information.

SLIDE 9: Financial Services Segment in H1

Let’s move on to the Financial Services Segment.

Here, the positive trend in new business continues – for financing of both new and used vehicles.

A total of about 850,000 new leasing and credit financing contracts were concluded in the first half-year. This represents a significant increase of 16.5 percent year-over-year.

The volume of new business, encompassing all new credit financing and leasing contracts, climbed 18.2 percent to around 32 billion euros.

This positive development in new business is also reflected in the portfolio. The total value of all contracts managed surpassed 143 billion euros for the first time.

Segment earnings amounted to just under 1.5 billion euros. This year-on-year decrease of 13.1 percent resulted mainly from lower income from the resale of end-of-lease vehicles, which reflects the continued normalisation of the used car market.

During the reporting period, the credit loss ratio for the entire credit portfolio was 0.25 percent (2023: 0.15 percent).

The segment’s overall business performance was better than anticipated. For this reason, we are raising our full-year guidance for Return on Equity (RoE) from a range between 14 and 17 percent to a range between 15 and 18 percent.

SLIDE 10: Motorcycles Segment in Q2

In the Motorcycles Segment, second-quarter deliveries increased by 2.6 percent compared to the prior-year quarter.

EBIT in the second quarter totalled 110 million euros, with an EBIT margin of 11.1 percent.

SLIDE 11: Outlook 2024

Ladies and Gentlemen,

the BMW Group is on course to meet its targets for the year.

The market development in China in the first half of this year has not met our expectations.

We expect that the various measures taken by the government, including the cut in lending rates in July, will lead to a stabilisation of the market starting in the third quarter.

Our overall business environment will remain challenging throughout the rest of the year.

Our guidance assumes that geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions will not deteriorate.

Group earnings before tax will decrease slightly.

We expect to see a slight increase in demand, with sales in the Automotive Segment slightly higher than the previous year. The percentage of all-electric vehicles will increase significantly.

We are targeting an EBIT margin between 8 and 10 percent and a Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) between 15 and 20 percent.

Deliveries are projected to increase slightly in the Motorcycles Segment. The EBIT margin should come in between 8 and 10 percent, with a Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) between 21 and 26 percent.

In the Financial Services Segment we are now forecasting a Return on Equity (RoE) in the range of 15 to 18 percent for the full year.

SLIDE 12: BMW Group with Consistent Strategy and Focused Execution

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The BMW Group is pursuing a clear strategic approach, focused on long-term success.

Our company maintains a globally balanced footprint. We are leveraging this balance and the high flexibility of all our systems to mitigate market volatility and consistently provide our customers with the best products to suit their needs.

We continue to systematically implement our electrification and digitalisation strategy and make targeted investments in our future model line-up.

In 2024, we are setting a decisive course for our future. Research and development spending and capital expenditure will therefore respectively peak, as planned.

We expect our R&D ratio for the full year to exceed five percent, with a capex ratio of more than six percent.

Despite these high upfront investments, we were still able to deliver a solid financial performance in the second quarter, thanks to our attractive product range.

Across global markets, we are carefully steering our performance in line with individual market conditions.

At the same time, we are maintaining a high level of cost discipline.

Whether manufacturing costs, fixed costs, or capital expenditure: at the BMW Group, we have always constantly optimized our cost structures and will continue to do so.

I am confident that our clear long-term strategy, combined with focused execution in our operational business, will keep us competitive and successful – both now and in the future.

Thank you.

- Check against delivery –

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the past few days, several automotive manufacturers have released their half-year results: A glance at the numbers shows just how differentiated our industry is.

The basic principles are the same for everyone – which reveals even more clearly how different strategic approaches are performing in the current environment. All those who are broadly diversified are reaping the benefits.

Our own ambitions are underlined by the first six months: In the face of headwinds, we can capitalise on our competitive strength in the market.

In the first half of 2024, BMW Group deliveries were at the same high level as the previous year. Our core BMW brand is growing.

In terms of financial performance, we also deliver consistently high profitability.

For the past ten consecutive quarters, our EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment has been within our strategic target range of eight to ten percent, or higher.

At 10.9 percent, the Group EBT margin once again outperformed our strategic target of 10 percent.

Above all, our all-electric vehicles and models in the higher-priced upper segments of our BMW and BMW M brands remain in very high demand.

In our view, e-mobility will continue to be the core drive technology of the future and our primary growth driver.

We anticipated this development early – which is why we have one of the most comprehensive and attractive EV portfolios in the marketplace today. We already offer at least one BEV model in nearly every segment that is relevant for us.

This wide-ranging offering lays the foundation for our continued dynamic growth in BEVs – even in the current more challenging market environment.

In absolute terms, BMW comes in a strong third in electric vehicle sales among all OEMs worldwide.

Our impressive performance in ramping up electromobility becomes even clearer when we look at the rate of growth in the first half of the year.

With growth of 34 percent, the BMW brand is number one worldwide among all relevant major players.

Take the example of the BMW X1, a customer favourite, and our luxury sedan, the new BMW 7 Series: In the case of both vehicles, one in five customers is already opting for the all-electric iX1* or i7* variant.

In the first half of 2024, our fully-electric sport coupé, the
BMW i4*, remained our line-up's best-selling electric vehicle – once again posting double-digit growth.

I have emphasised many times that following the hype without careful consideration is not a strategy. Emotionality and nervousness have never been good counsellors.

Our strategy is grounded in facts, experience and a continuous, realistic assessment of the current situation. It has proven robust – especially in turbulent times.

The approach to drive technologies rooted in this strategy makes us resilient and secures our market success.

With our globally aligned, highly flexible production network, we are capable of responding to fluctuations in demand better than others.

Supply chain management is increasingly critical to success.

We have established processes to identify risks in our supplier network at an early stage. This enables us to take action before a risk becomes an issue. We have not had any major impact recently.

This also ensures that we can respond to regional differences in customer preferences as needed – whether for cars with internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids or BEVs.

As a result, we have consistently outperformed EU CO2 requirements for years.

One thing is clear: The most impactful contributions to climate protection are those we can make today: In other words, every tonne of CO2 we can save today – not sometime in the future – counts.

This also entails demanding and promoting the use of low-CO2 fuels like e-fuels, E 25 or HVO100 – as quickly and as widely as possible.

These fuels could immediately improve the carbon footprint of the existing fleet of more than 250 million vehicles in the European Union.

At the moment, however, we see a significant risk of eFuels being politically instrumentalised in the debate about the ban on combustion engines from 2035.

There are currently many indications that the EU Commission is striving for a bogus solution in which the ban on combustion engines is relaxed simply by ostensibly opening up to eFuels.

However, if it then does nothing to accelerate the ramp-up of low-CO2 fuels and make their use practicable, this would be a deliberate ban on combustion engines through the back door.

We continue to believe that a categorical ban on combustion technology is wrong. And we are also publicly committed to our highly efficient engines and plug-in hybrid technology, such as that used in our new BMW X3.

As a hybrid version, the high-volume X3 enables locally emission-free premium mobility well beyond city traffic.

The new X3 will be released onto the market in the fourth quarter – initially in the US and Europe.

You all know how popular our X models are. Last year, the current X3 was the best-selling model across our entire BMW product range.

When the all-electric NEUE KLASSE ramps up at our specially-built plant in Debrecen in late 2025, it will initially launch with an X model. This will be followed soon afterwards by a sporty sedan from Plant Munich.

With the NEUE KLASSE, our aim is to once again expand our technology leadership. Preparations are in full swing and progressing according to plan – despite the challenging conditions.

Our technology clusters allow us to quickly deploy the technologies of the NEUE KLASSE across our entire vehicle portfolio – elevating it to a whole new level, regardless of the drive technology.

Mastering this degree of integration and executing it efficiently are highly complex tasks. This is precisely where future competitiveness will be decided in our industry.

It is why we continue to focus on optimising interaction between all technologies – creating a holistic mobility experience for all our customers.

Our automated driving functions provide a good example of our technological edge.

A few weeks ago, we released a world first onto the market: We are the first automotive manufacturer to offer the combination of Level 2 and Level 3 driver assistance systems exclusively in Germany in the new 7 Series.

We have already obtained Level 2+ approval for numerous BMW models in the US, Canada and – making this another field where our technology clearly sets us apart. We will solidify this leading position with the NEUE KLASSE.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The automotive industry is a major driver of the global economy – which increasingly makes it the focus of geopolitical interests.

The issues range from growing regulation to protectionist measures in the major economic areas of the US, China and the European Union.

We are seeing global competition for raw materials and access to strategically critical technologies, such as high-voltage batteries and semiconductors, as well as advancements in AI applications.

Each region and individual state is seeking to protect its own economic interests. This also includes localising the entire automotive value chain, including supply chains.

At the BMW Group, we remain committed to open markets and opposed to artificial barriers such as punitive tariffs.

The introduction of additional import duties, like those recently imposed by the EU, leads us down a dead-end street – and will ultimately not make European manufacturers any more competitive.

On the contrary, EU tariffs on BEVs from China instead penalise European manufacturers like the BMW Group – since they also produce vehicles in China for the European market.

Additional customs duties also limit the choice of electric cars for European customers and could therefore slow down decarbonisation in the transport sector.

Measures always lead to countermeasures. Let us not forget that implementation of the Green Deal in Europe also relies heavily on raw materials and technology from China, in particular.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The BMW Group cannot entirely escape current market and geopolitical developments. However, with our long-term, yet flexible strategy, we are in the driver's seat.

We adapt quickly and effectively as conditions evolve.

We see no reason for hasty action or fundamental course adjustments.

We will continue on our path in the future. That means, sometimes we do things differently – but always out of conviction, not merely on principle.

This is what makes us strong and successful in the long term.

The fact of the matter is: The automotive industry will remain a growth sector in the future – and we intend to make sure the BMW Group in particular benefits from it.

Thank you.

- Check against delivery –

Strong today – Strong tomorrow.
Our BMW way into the future

Dear Shareholders!

A warm welcome from BMW Welt in Munich. A lot of people talk about the transformation of mobility and the automotive industry – how one will replace the other. At BMW, we do things a little differently. We call it: continuous progress. 

Becoming a little bit better every day – that is what we aspire to. And what I, myself, am measured against. Never being satisfied with the status quo brings us closer to our ambitious goals. Step by step. Or, more fittingly, when talking about cars: mile by mile. That may sound very grounded and methodical, but it certainly yields highly effective results.

We always look to the future. That is part of BMW's vast array of experience. It gives us strength and empowers us, time and again, to take bold action: We know what we are capable of! That is why BMW is still here after 108 years. 

The film showed our Board of Management – but we are only as good as our global team. Together, we bring our combined know-how to the roads – in a very literal sense. There are currently more than 150,000 of us worldwide – representing nearly every nationality there is, united by the BMW Spirit. In autumn of last year, we surveyed all our associates around the world: 85 percent said they fully support the company’s goals and strategy. And even 93 percent are proud to work for the BMW Group.

What a boost for us!

We are mobilising them all for the next massive leap, because your company is once again reinventing itself – at precisely the right time.

You, too, my dear shareholders, are part of our BMW team. Your support for our direction gives us the momentum and latitude we need to make decisions with a long-term perspective. This traces back to legendary entrepreneur Herbert Quandt. What a legacy! The next generation is carrying forward that legacy – much like we do at the company.

We always base our strategic decisions on facts and informed analysis. This certainly requires experience and, sometimes, plain common sense, as well. This makes your company robust and ensures that we remain composed in a turbulent environment. All of this comes together in the BMW way. This approach guarantees that the following always holds true for your company:

“Strong today – strong tomorrow”.

For financial year 2023: Should you approve our proposed dividend, you will receive a payout equivalent to 33.7 percent of our unappropriated profit. During the financial year, we had revised our guidance upwards. At year-end we met all our targets. We posted solid growth in sales, reaching a new all-time high of more than 2.55 million vehicles. In fact, we are the only German OEM to have regained our pre-pandemic level.

Our Group EBT margin of 11 percent came in higher than our strategic target of 10 percent. We are consistently performing at a high level, as confirmed by our EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment, which has been within our defined target range of eight to ten percent for the past nine quarters, including the first quarter of 2024.

This allows us to continue to make substantial investments.

Our capital expenditure, as well as our research and development spending, will peak this year. We will once again be making major investments – because our actions are always geared towards the future.

Individual mobility offers tremendous potential for profitable growth and gaining market share.

Today, let's take a look at how we continue to forge our BMW way –
in four chapters.

1. Future to the max: Turning visions into reality.
2. Following our own convictions: Technology openness is effective.
3. Global success today means acting regionally.
4. The car as digital companion: We are making mobility more human, more intelligent and more sustainable.

These focal points also shed light on the topics you requested through the shareholder portal.

Turning visions into reality.

This is the first topic I would like to talk about today.

What you see right here is nothing less than the future: pure BMW – taken to a whole new level. This is where all the big topics of future mobility come together: Electric. Fully digitalised. Sustainable.

For now, they are still Vision Vehicles – but they will be on the roads in a very similar form very soon. Last year, I promised you a new Vision Vehicle, which we then unveiled at the IAA MOBILITY. The BMW Vision Neue Klasse celebrated its premiere here in Munich. You’ll see right away that it’s a sporty sedan.

No other car at the IAA received as much media coverage and positive feedback – which is just one more reason to bring along another highlight for you today: The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X – a car that very clearly reimagines the BMW X philosophy in a totally new way.

Both vehicles will compete in high-volume segments – because we want our innovations to have a broad impact, not just in niche segments. Both vehicles underline that the NEUE KLASSE is consistent and broad at the same time.

Consistent – in terms of design, technology and sustainability. Broad – with respect to the other models that will follow.

These are the two bookends of the NEUE KLASSE – with lots of room in-between that we intend to exploit. And we deliver on our promises:

Within 24 months of the start of production, there will be at least six different models on the market.

Our industry has never seen speed quite like this before – but if anyone can do it, then it’s us at BMW. We are picking up the pace on a massive scale.

Our new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, will lead the way, with the launch of the first X model in late 2025. This will continue seamlessly in 2026 with the Sedan at our main plant in Munich, as well as Plant Shenyang in China. In 2027, the NEUE KLASSE will also ramp up in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Our customers ask: How far can I drive on electric power? How quickly can I charge my car?

We are able to tell them: at least 30 percent farther and 30 percent faster. In practice, this means that: It only takes ten minutes to charge your car for a 300-kilometre trip – hardly enough time to grab a coffee!

This is possible thanks to the new sixth-generation round cells.  We are using them for the first time in the NEUE KLASSE – which means you can look forward to an even higher-level “BMW driving experience”.

What might look like a Playstation is actually four super-brains, each integrating several highly intelligent control units. This opens up new possibilities – from powertrain and driving dynamics, to automated driving, to how we interact with our cars.

The most important aspect for our customers is: What does the NEUE KLASSE feel like on the road? The Board of Management already had the chance to drive the pre-series – and, believe me, it gave us goosebumps.

The magnitude of the technological wave we are unleashing becomes even clearer when you realise:

The innovations of the NEUE KLASSE will be incorporated into all BMW models in the coming years, regardless of their drive technology. In simple terms: Soon, all BMW technology will be NEUE KLASSE. The NEUE KLASSE is set to become our innovation and technology booster for all future areas of activity, including design.

We aren’t just taking mobility to a new level; the BMW Group is also becoming a NEW company. I believe this is entirely in your interest as our shareholders.

My second topic for today reflects our belief in the effectiveness of technology openness.

The heart of the NEUE KLASSE is electric – running on its own, new architecture. If demand for electric vehicles continues to grow as forecast, we will be able to leverage corresponding economies of scale.

But the world is a big place – which is why we continue to serve all markets with premium products. With us, everyone can find the right drivetrain to suit their needs. Anything else would be unwise from a business perspective.

Using technology clusters and modules enables us to be highly flexible. Think of it like this: We can roll out innovations and technological advances across all architectures and segments, and scale them efficiently.

We don’t distinguish between “old” and “new” vehicles – instead, we deliver cutting-edge technology across all areas. And, moreover, we offer the best overall package. This is what we aspire to – and it is perhaps the underlying secret of your company’s success.

Let me give you a current example: Following on from the new BMW 5 Series Sedan, the new BMW 5 Series Touring also comes in four drive technologies. The BMW i5* is all-electric, with an impressive everyday range of over 500 kilometres.

Plug-in hybrids also remain extremely popular. For the new BMW 5 Series, the PHEV variant could account for about 20 percent of our sales in Europe.

This shows we are right on track with our ten attractive PHEV models. And of course, the new 5 Series is also well received as a highly efficient combustion engine.

Focused technology openness is not something that is achieved overnight. You know my position: Building cars is a highly complex task. New market players are realising this too.

It is a strength of your company – and I believe it is also a unique selling point: The ability to master this complexity, seamlessly, and to effectively orchestrate, scale and further develop technologies.

Our sales figures confirm this: BMW is maintaining its leading position in the global premium segment. Our strongest growth last year came from the upper premium and luxury class, as well as our all-electric models, or BEVs for short. We delivered over 375,000 BEVs to customers in 2023 – an increase of almost 75 percent over the previous year. 

This dynamism is also reflected in our share of the global BEV market: At 4.1 percent, it is already significantly higher than our share of the total global market, which remains stable at 3.3 percent.

Demand for BEVs will continue to climb – although not in a linear fashion; it will be dynamic and market-specific. We reiterate this time and again – and it holds true in multiple markets.

We see e-mobility as the fastest-growing drive technology – today and in the future. By 2030, all-electric vehicles should account for about half of our deliveries. We remain committed to this goal and are steering the ramp-up in line with demand. We will stay flexible – even well into the 2030s.

We are aligning our strategic planning accordingly – and enabling our architectures. In this way, we can respond quickly at all times. More than 15 BEV models will be available this year across all BMW Group brands.

Here, you can see the MINI Aceman*.

In April, it celebrated its world premiere at AUTO CHINA. The Aceman is offered exclusively as a all-electric vehicle.

It fills the gap between the Cooper* and the Countryman*, which has now grown significantly in size. The new Cooper is already sold out – at least for the next four months. The only thing missing is the new MINI Convertible, which will be released in the second half of the year.

Together, these models form the NEW MINI Family, which is effectively the counterpart to the NEUE KLASSE at BMW: MINI's leap into the future.

And: We produce the New MINI Family worldwide: at our Spotlight joint venture in China; in Oxford, in the UK; and, for the first time, also in Germany, at Plant Leipzig.

We talked about bookends earlier. Now, with our brands, let's jump from MINI go-kart feeling to our luxury brand, Rolls-Royce. Spectre* certainly hit the ground running. What a phenomenal start! 

In the first quarter of this year, this model alone accounted for 38 percent of Rolls-Royce deliveries. That is how we do e-mobility in the luxury class. Spectre glides along effortlessly, like a flying carpet. Our luxury brand's vehicles have never been as compelling and as differentiated as they are today. And let’s not forget that they also earn a significant contribution margin for the company.

BMW Motorrad is also reporting profitable growth, having celebrated its centenary in September. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the anniversary celebrations at Plant Berlin-Spandau.

We shared two major milestones with him:

First, the inauguration of the new “BMW Motorrad Welt”. What BMW Welt in Munich is to cars, we now also have in Berlin for our two-wheeled vehicles. Second, the world premiere of the R 1300 GS. Many people – myself included, as a motorcycle enthusiast – have been eagerly awaiting the next-generation GS. The trade press was practically euphoric about it.

For those who prefer an electric ride in the city, BMW Motorrad’s second electric model, the CE 02, is perfect.

Our core BMW brand also has a slew of upcoming, exciting vehicles, with 14 launches and numerous model variants this year alone.

The BMW 1 Series will be released onto the market in the compact class.

And we will launch the new BMW X3 – one of our most popular models overall. The new X3 will be available with a highly-efficient combustion engine and as a plug-in hybrid variant.

We recently presented our new and future vehicles to our retailers, including 1,500 retailers from all over Europe in Amsterdam. We did the same in Las Vegas for over 1,000 dealers from the Americas region. I got the sense at both events that our retailers are genuinely excited about what is to come.

Especially for Europe, I have to stress: The retailers will remain by our side in the new sales system – that won’t change. We are already using direct sales for MINI in China and reporting positive experiences in the first European countries. We will be transitioning the BMW brand to the new direct and fully digitalized sales model in Europe from 2026, as planned.

You, our shareholders, also wanted to know:

How are we progressing with hydrogen?

Our BMW iX5 Hydrogen* is currently on a world tour, undergoing real-life testing. It is very well received, everywhere it goes. Our pilot fleet is raising awareness of hydrogen's role in the energy transition – both for mobility and across industries. You rightly expect us to meet the European Union's CO₂ requirements.

In 2023, the BMW Group significantly outperformed the CO₂ fleet limit set for us by the EU by more than 20 percent. This year, we expect to see another slight reduction, with all brands and drivetrain variants contributing.

Technology-centric, with a clear focus on e-mobility – we are always consistent in our actions: This is how we are reshaping perception of your company.

What the New York Times writes is precisely researched.

In March, the New York Times praised our drivetrain strategy as far-sighted and consistent. It described BMW as a “winner in electric vehicles” – and Tesla's only serious competitor. We can certainly live with that. People expect us to consider things carefully and come up with practical solutions – because we consistently demonstrate our ability to do so.

In part three, I’ll look at the reasons for our global success – which, now, more than ever, requires us to act regionally. If you look closely, your company stands out as one of the automotive industry's few “truly” global manufacturers.

Something like this has to grow systematically – and we have been expanding our footprint for this purpose over the decades.

Let me give you three examples:

China – our biggest single market; Europe – our most important sales region; the US – our “second home”:

First: China, where we employ about a fifth of our workforce. It is – after Germany – our second-largest R&D location. BMW enjoys a high level of trust there – and not just among our own customers. We are highly regarded as a company, because we enter into serious, long-term commitments.

This year, we are celebrating 30 years “at home in China” and more than two decades of commitment in Shenyang.

In April, we signed a new investment agreement with Liaoning Province, worth 20 billion renminbi or 2.5 billion euros. The Shenyang production site of our BBA joint venture is transforming into a BMW iFACTORY.

Also in April, I was part of German Chancellor Scholz's economic delegation to China. Shortly after that, I was in Beijing at AUTO CHINA, where Prime Minister Li Qiang visited precisely one non-Chinese manufacturer – and that was the BMW Group.

A phrase I hear a lot in China is “China speed”. This is a dynamic country – and we are picking up the pace to keep up: Just last week, our six-millionth vehicle produced in Shenyang since 2003 rolled off the assembly line. We only reached the five million mark about a year earlier. This means we turned out one million vehicles in just 15 months – that is true “China speed”.

Second: Europe.

We sell nearly a third of all our vehicles in the European Union, where we operate ten plants and maintain a broad supplier base. We all benefit from a united Europe – every single day – and should channel all our collective efforts into preserving it.

BMW maintains a global outlook. This is something the chair of the General Works Council and I have reiterated. We urge our associates to pay close attention whenever seemingly simple solutions are proposed for complicated issues.

Enjoying democracy means living democracy – and that includes participation, exercising your right to vote and raising your voice to stand up for democracy. That is why we have asked everyone to vote on June 9.

What applies to Europe, applies even more to Germany: We need the best minds – and the smartest minds think very carefully about where they want to go. That is why we support the “We stand for values” initiative.

In Germany, we have many debates about emotionally charged trigger points. There is broad consensus on meta-topics. This is how sociologist Steffen Mau describes it. His latest study comes to the conclusion: We are not a divided society.

As a result, we shouldn’t speak ill of our country and Germany as a location, but leverage our potential. I can only agree with that.

Third: the USA.

We refer to the US as our “second home”. Next year will be our 50th year in the United States.
In 2023, your company was once again one of the largest net exporters of vehicles from the US by value. Germany is the only place where we have a higher purchasing volume than the US, which currently totals 6.7 billion euros annually.

For over 25 years, we have been a local partner – particularly in South Carolina. Today, Spartanburg is our largest plant – and the whole of the surrounding region has grown with us.

China, Europe and the US: Three examples of how our local presence forges close ties with the regions and markets.

We are living proof that everyone benefits when people work together. That is also one of the reasons why your company continued to grow in all major regions of the world in 2023.

We do business around the globe – and benefit from an integrated global economy.

Now, our global world order is evolving – from a “unipolar world” to a “multi-polar world”, especially in the last 10-15 years. Authors like Carlo Masala talk about the highly integrated and largely self-sufficient economic areas now emerging. We remain committed to open markets and free trade.

I also say this with a view to the European Union's current deliberations over Chinese imports of electric cars. A 360-degree perspective would be better: 20 percent of all BEVs sold in Europe last year came from China; well over half were western brands, including BMW.

Protectionism triggers a spiral effect: Tariffs lead to new tariffs, with protectionism rather than cooperation.

My over 30 years of experience at BMW suggest that solutions come about when we reach out to one another – and when we are prepared to make compromises ourselves.

That is how we build a consensus that makes us stronger as a society and an economy and enables us to take action.

You are justified in asking how your company secures access to diversified, fragmented markets.

The answer is: by continuing to invest at local level. Also, by finding local solutions and partners for the upstream value chain.

“Local for local” is our recipe for success – and we are now applying this same principle to producing cells for the batteries needed for e-mobility.

Who has control over technological expertise and urgently needed raw materials? That is what decides the competitiveness of companies and economic areas. We locate production facilities for BMW high-voltage batteries close to our vehicle plants – in Hungary, the US and China. Just a few days ago, we laid the foundation stone for the high-voltage battery assembly in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

The benefits for us are clear: Short transport distances and supply stability in the event of unforeseen events around the globe.

And to get really local: Have you heard of Irlbach-Straßkirchen in Lower Bavaria? It will supply Gen6 batteries for our plants in Bavaria from 2026 onwards. The process wasn’t entirely straightforward. Residents wanted to know: What are the benefits for our region? We engaged in in-depth discussions with them to build trust. Ultimately, an overwhelming majority voted in favour of the new BMW location.

As you can see: Global only works at local level – and this also applies to our supply chains.

We have learned in recent years how vulnerable and susceptible to disruption they can be. Take a guess: How many parts do you think our plants worldwide need to be supplied with every day? The answer is:
36 million. The right quantities have to be in the right place, at the right time, in the best quality.

Our digitalised “i Supply Chain” strategy ensures resilient supply chains.

Our “RiskHub” uses AI and data analytics to identify quality issues in the supplier network early. We also adopt a proactive approach to avoid supply bottlenecks.

You might already have heard of Catena-X. There’s tremendous potential here: Automotive manufacturers, suppliers and, soon, recyclers, are creating a shared data ecosystem that makes sprawling supply chains transparent and allows us to track the carbon footprint of individual components. The type, quantity and source of the raw materials installed can also be digitally documented, allowing us to “trace” them.

And we are about to embark on a pilot project: Plant Landshut produces the kidney grille for the BMW iX* – one component made of many individual components. We will be using data from Catena-X to measure the total carbon footprint of production.

Wherever we collaborate with suppliers, we do so as partners, always treating each other as equals. This is important to me.

Chapter four of my speech focuses on the car as a digital companion: We are making mobility more human, more intelligent and more sustainable.

The world of bits and bytes is highly dynamic. Digitalisation, hand in hand with artificial intelligence, is fundamentally changing how we experience mobility. The questions you submitted through the shareholder portal indicate that this interests you, too.

Intelligent, self-learning systems have long been part of our strategy for the automotive production of the future. You know this as BMW iFACTORY.

Digital added value can be experienced directly in our vehicles, but our approach here remains: Not everything that is possible also makes sense in a car.

Our Head-Up Display is a classic. 20 years ago, we brought this technology from the aeroplane into the car. Now, we are revolutionising this display concept in the NEUE KLASSE.

Take a look for yourselves: Our “BMW Panoramic Vision” uses the full width of the windscreen. Pure high-tech. But we also use digitalization to increase security. In this case, we reduce distraction while driving.

We have grown used to always getting the latest updates from our digital devices – and people expect the same from their cars. Over the air means we can update software in the vehicle at any time, without bringing it in to the workshop. We chose this route early.

Today, your company has the world’s largest fully upgrade-compatible fleet in the market. We can already reach more than 7.5 million vehicles. 

The BMW 5 Series sets the standard for automated driving. It is the first car in Germany to be approved for partially automated driving at speeds up to 130 km/h on motorways.

This means you can take your hands off the steering wheel while driving. Your car can also change lanes by itself, when you briefly glance in the side mirror. Active Lane Change Assistant with eye confirmation – a somewhat unwieldy name for a genuine world first.

Since March 2024, Highway Assist has also been available in the BMW 7 Series, X5, X6, X7, iX and XM*. That's level 2+.

The new BMW 7 Series does even more:

You can even temporarily turn your attention away from the road. It fascinates me, every time the car regulates its own speed, distance and tracking. That is Level 3 highly automated driving – available in the new BMW 7 Series since March. A digital driving experience needs to ensure the safety of all road users.

That is why your company only introduces mature technical solutions onto the road– no beta versions. No experiments at the expense of our customers. You can always rely on that.

Since summer 2023, we have been testing automated driving and parking functions all the way up to Level 4 fully automated driving at our new centre for automated driving in Sokolov in the Czech Republic.

Esteemed Shareholders,

The US publication Time Magazine and the online platform “Statista” analysed and compared 750 international companies: Your company did exceptionally well to make it into the top ten and was, in fact, the highest-ranked automotive manufacturer. 

Revenue growth, sustainability and employee satisfaction – many people consider these to be conflicting goals. We find a way to reconcile them.

Our markets are dynamic and the geopolitical environment uncertain. This impacts us – just like it does other companies.

You are counting on us to remain successful – and, indeed, we will! We have ambitious plans for the current financial year. We expect to see a slight increase in sales, compared to the previous year, as well as a significantly higher percentage of all-electric vehicles.

The first fourth months of 2024 show that we are on track for all key performance indicators.

As CEO of BMW, I travel the world a lot. Everywhere I go, I see not only how valuable individual mobility is for many people, but how essential it is.

My experience is also that the BMW Group is appreciated and recognised in all corners of the globe. All of this encourages us to continue forging our own BMW way.

We are able to withstand the headwinds when we have confidence in our direction – which we usually do.

Your company is part of the global community. We engage with it – and evolve in and alongside it. That is extremely important.

The BMW way is also about our capacity for resonance – a term from physics that is also used in sociology.

So, what do I mean by capacity for resonance?

I’m talking about our ability to perceive and understand our relationship with the world – in Germany and elsewhere. We pay attention to developments, absorb them – and give something back to society in return. 

This is a natural process we actively participate in and control.

We remain open to all input, but never allow ourselves to be influenced without careful consideration or emotionalised by trigger points. Above all, we avoid drifting aimlessly.

We are in permanent resonance with our evolving society – consciously and for our mutual benefit. And always focused on effectiveness.

The following therefore holds true for your company:

“Strong today – strong tomorrow”.

Another compelling reason for you to continue to stand by us!

Thank you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The figures for the first quarter of 2024 underline once again that: Our strategy for long-term, profitable growth is robust and effective – especially in the dynamic environment in which we operate.

These conditions are the same for all players within our industry. However, there are currently three distinct groups of commercial actors, each with their own approach.

1. The newcomers: the ones who generate a lot of hype with single products. They often have only individual technological highlights, such as maximum performance, the largest range or the largest screen. 
It remains to be seen whether the overall package will meet high customer expectations, especially in the premium segment, over the entire lifecycle.
Additionally, they face the challenge of managing complexity as they scale up and expand. Market entry is also bought with aggressive price positioning.

2. Then, there are the established manufacturers, who are trying to copy these new players’ approach, but run the risk of losing their own identity.

3. And, finally, there are a number of manufacturers who are struggling to keep pace with change – and therefore remain entrenched in their traditional business models.

In this competitive space, the BMW Group continues to chart its own, balanced course.

And we remain true to ourselves.

We analyse and anticipate both current and future trends without prejudging the outcome. From this, we develop our strategic approaches. The ability to respond to market developments, customer needs and new technological approaches is essential.

This has earned us a leading position in e-mobility and, at the same time, allowed us to maintain consistently high profitability, even in a volatile environment.

For nine quarters in a row, our EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment has been within our target range of 8 - 10 percent or higher, like it was in the first quarter of 2023. Walter Mertl already explained the reasons for this.

Our development efforts are focused on technologies that deliver real added value for our customers. Decades of market experience have taught us what our customers want throughout the entire customer journey. We use this knowledge and our technological expertise to create the perfect overall concept.

This is not easy to replicate.

The BMW Group is also one of the few “true” global players in the automotive industry. From production, to sales, to suppliers – we are in a strong position in all major markets.

We have well established footprints in each region along with a local-for-local mindset.

This global approach is our greatest strength. It creates resilience, opens up opportunities and keeps us flexible.

We are building on this to leverage our business success – today and in the future.

A look at global regions shows that markets and customer demand continue to develop in a highly diversified way. Maintaining a presence in all major sales markets enables us to balance out these different trends.

Our unique BMW approach allows us to respond flexibly to changing demand, especially when it comes to drive technologies.

But let me be quite clear: We continue to ramp up e-mobility at a fast pace that our competitors can barely keep up with.

Just a few weeks ago, we hit an important milestone: Since the market launch of the BMW i3, we have delivered more than one million all-electric vehicles to customers. This confirms the appeal of our fully-electric product range.

This is also backed up by our current figures in the Chinese BEV market. With growth of more than 18% in China in the first quarter, BMW outperformed both the total market for electric vehicles and the electric premium segment.

This means: We are gaining segment share in the world’s biggest e-mobility market.

However, our success in China is not just evident from the numbers. The BMW Group is held in high regard there as a "local player".

I experienced this when I was part of the business delegation led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in April. And we were also very pleased that Premier Li Qiang took the time to visit the BMW Group stand at Auto China in Beijing.

We are confident about long-term economic prospects in China. We are therefore comprehensively preparing our joint venture BBA's production site in Shenyang for future vehicle models.

In late April, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect in Shenyang, for investments totalling around 2.5 billion euros.

Our highly diversified electric offering, across BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, is not just in demand in China, but worldwide.

With sales up by about 28 percent, fully-electric vehicles once again made an important contribution to the BMW Group's sales growth and earnings in the first quarter of 2024.

At Auto China, a few weeks ago, we presented two vehicles that will reinforce this trend:

the all-new fully-electric MINI Aceman* and an update to the electric BMW i4*.

The BMW i4 comes straight from the heart of the BMW brand and is a success story in its own right. People love its combination of e-drive, design and signature driving dynamics – all the things they associate with the BMW brand.

More than 80,000 customers bought a BMW i4 last year – making it one of the best-selling BEVs in the entire premium segment.

MINI is also continuing on a path that is just as brand-authentic and modern.

The “New MINI Family” is a real game changer that reimagines the brand's unique British heritage in an entirely new way for the future.

The all-electric MINI Aceman brings fresh impulses. With this latest addition, the New MINI Family now features three models that serve different segments and appeal to new customer groups.

This will enable us to continue and expand the MINI success story in our global markets.

Our growth and economic success today are laying a solid foundation for the future.

We are investing more than ever in developing new products, efficient technologies and automated driving functions, as well as in digitalisation.

As the biggest single investment in the history of the company, the NEUE KLASSE shows how we are redefining the BMW brand for the future.

From design, to drive trains, to totally new forms of digital interaction between human and machine – the NEUE KLASSE represents a massive leap into the future across virtually all fields of technology.

All future BMW models will benefit from this – regardless of their drive technology. In this way, we are able to ensure that our customers always have the latest technology on board.

The NEUE KLASSE will start out with a Sports Activity Vehicle and a sedan in the current 3 Series segment.

We provided a glimpse of what this future will look like for BMW at our Annual Conference.

The BMW Vision Neue Klasse and the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X showcase both the consistency and the breadth of the NEUE KLASSE.
There is plenty of room between the two vehicles for innovation and new models – and we intend to use it.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The BMW Group is growing – despite the many different challenges we face. Even in times of change, we deliver positive financial results at a consistently high level.

The course we are charting today will enable us to build on this success in the future – across all our brands and products, with next-generation technologies and within the company.

We are in a strong position globally and maintaining our leadership of the global premium segment.

We recognise that there are a lot of new players looking to gain a foothold in this highly attractive segment – and, of course, we are taking this very seriously.

But this is not a one-way street. You can be sure of that: Every player in this industry, whether an ambitious newcomer or an established manufacturer, is also keeping a very close eye on the BMW Group.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!

2023 was another successful year for the BMW Group. We delivered strong results in the current business, while securing our future viability through targeted investments.

Strong demand for our attractive products, better availability of vehicles and an easing of the supply situation led to a positive volume development. After the halfway mark in the year, we accordingly raised our guidance for both deliveries and EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment.

Thanks to our disciplined management of the business, we delivered yet again on all our targets. I’ll now take you through our results. 

SLIDE 3: BMW Group with Strong Performance and Solid Sales increase

For the full year, we delivered 2.55 million vehicles worldwide, which is 6.4% over 2022. We achieved significant growth with our all-electric vehicles. Deliveries reached more than 375,000 units, or approximately 15% of total sales.

At 9.8%, the EBIT margin in the Automotive Segment was well within the increased corridor of 9.0 to 10.5%. Excluding depreciation and amortisation for BBA assets from the purchase price allocation of 1.4 billion euros, the EBIT margin was 10.8%.

The Group EBT margin of 11% exceeded our strategic target of 10%.

We also continued to reduce CO2 emissions in our European fleet. With 102.1 grams per kilometer, we were 26.4 grams – in other words 20.5% - below the target set by the European Union.

SLIDE 4: BMW Group full-year 2023

At Group level, our revenues reached 155.5 billion euros, which is 9% higher than 2022. Adjusted for currency translation effects, revenues increased by 13.1%. The increase was driven by the higher delivery volumes and positive product mix effects.

In 2023, our earnings before tax at Group level amounted to 17.1 billion euros. It is important to note that Group earnings in 2022 of 23.5 billion euros included a one-off profit of 7.7 billion euros. This was due to a technical accounting effect related to BBA full consolidation, namely the revaluation of our existing equity interests. Without this effect, Group earnings in 2023 were 1.3 billion euros or 8% above 2022.

This also translates through to earnings per share, that were at 15.7 euros in 2022, excluding the one-off profit from BBA. In 2023, earnings per share of 17.7 euros were 12.8% above the previous year.

That brings me to the results of the individual segments.

I’ll start with the Automotive Segment.

SLIDE 5: Automotive Retail Units, BEV Units, Auto 

Revenue and Auto EBIT

The BMW Group delivered 2.55 million vehicles to customers worldwide in 2023. This corresponds to solid growth of 6.4% – in line with our increased guidance. Momentum came in particular from models in the upper price segment, such as the BMW 7 Series, X7, and Ix*, as well as from the all-new BMW X1.

Our all-electric vehicles continue to be a key growth driver.

In 2023, BEVs made up almost 15% of our total sales.

We also delivered over 190,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles. In total, electrified vehicles therefore accounted for over 22% of sales during the year. 

Revenues for the Automotive segment totaled 132.3 billion euros. This amounts to a 7% increase year-on-year.

At almost 13 billion euros, the segment’s operating result was over 20% higher than 2022. This resulted in an EBIT margin of 9.8%. This is both at the higher end of our long-term strategic target corridor of 8-10%, and well within the increased target corridor of 9.0-10.5% for the year 2023.

SLIDE 6: Automotive Segment EBIT full-year 2023

Looking at the operating result in detail, the increase in Automotive EBIT benefited from a net effect of volume, model mix and pricing, yielding a tailwind of 2.4 billion euros. This was mainly driven by the higher volume and higher share of top end vehicles, including BMW M models, which compensated for the higher BEV share. As expected, we saw some price normalization in the new car and used car markets through the end of the year.

Compared to 2022, we see that EBIT in 2023 was impacted by 600 million euros from the net balance of currency and raw material positions. This difference is mainly due to currency effects from the development of the Chinese renminbi and US dollar. Given lower raw material prices through the end of the year, we saw a slight tailwind compared to 2022. However, this was overcompensated by headwinds from increased supplier payments.

SLIDE 7: R&D Expenditure in full-year 2023

As planned, research and development expenditure rose significantly to 7.8 billion euros, almost 600 million euros higher than the previous year. The R&D ratio for the year came in at 5.0%. Due to higher revenues, this is the same level as 2022, although overall spending increased year-on-year.

Expenditure for R&D mainly focused on three areas: the electrification and digitalization of the fleet; automated driving functions; and expenditure for new models.

Due to higher expenses, mostly for IT projects, selling & administrative expenses increased by about 400 million euros.

The position “Other cost changes” reflects, amongst others, higher material costs, as mentioned at Q3, as well as lower residual value profits than the previous year. In 2022, a negative one-off impact of 1.8 billion euros was due to effects related to the first-time consolidation of BBA.

SLIDES 8 & 9: Automotive Segment Free Cash Flow full-year 2023

Moving on to the free cashflow results for 2023.

At year-end, free cash flow in the Automotive Segment reached 6.9 billion euros. It should be noted that free cashflow in the previous year included a positive effect of over 5 billion euros in net cash acquired from BBA. Without this effect, our free cash flow in 2023 was almost 900 million euros higher year-on-year, or an increase of 13%.

The change in working capital of 2.7 billion euros mainly reflects the increase in inventories to maintain stock levels in markets worldwide.  This ensured we have sufficient supply, including for new models, to meet the robust global market demand entering the new year.

SLIDE 10: Capital Expenditure full-year 2023

Capital expenditure for the year totaled 8.8 billion euros. Our investments in 2023 primarily focused on the fifth and sixth generation battery cell technology, digitalization of products and processes, and vehicle projects. In addition, we invested in construction of our plants, for example in Debrecen, Hungary, where we will launch the NEUE KLASSE next year.

The capex ratio for the year was 5.7%.

Changes in provisions had a positive impact on free cashflow of 1.5 billion euros.

The position “other items” reflects primarily tax payments.

SLIDE 11: Financial Services Segment full-year 2023

That brings me to our Financial Services segment, a key enabler for our business.

Financial Services is already an integral part of the customer journey, and will become even more important with the rollout of our direct agency sales model.

In 2023, the number of new financing and leasing contracts concluded with retail customers came in at the same level as the previous year with 1.5 million new contracts. This is a very solid result, considering the business environment with elevated interest rates and a highly competitive landscape.

Business developed positively quarter for quarter. While new contracts with end customers were down 20% in Q1 year-on-year, in Q4 contracts were up by 17%.

The share of new BMW Group vehicles either leased or financed

by the Financial Services segment stood at 38.2% in 2023.

Average financing volume per vehicle increased, due to an improved product mix in the automotive business. Overall, new business volume increased by 3.4% to 57.3 billion euros.

Segment earnings before tax amounted to 2.96 billion euros. The decrease reflects primarily two factors: higher refinancing costs due to rising interest rates, as well as the overall declining contract portfolio.

Revenues from the resale of end-of-lease vehicles remained at a high level, but were lower than previous year as used car prices started to normalize. We expect this trend to continue in 2024, leading to a lower result from off-lease vehicles.

At 0.18%, the credit loss ratio remained at low level.

After increasing the target range for the year to between 16 and 19 percent in August, Return on Equity reached 17.2% for the full-year.

SLIDE 12: Motorcycles Segment full-year 2023

That brings me to the Motorcycles segment.

In its 100th anniversary year, the BMW Motorrad brand achieved record deliveries, with over 209,000 units. An impressive accomplishment!

All major sales regions saw growth in 2023, with particular momentum coming from Europe with 4.7% and China with 2.8%.

The EBIT margin for the segment reached 8.1%.

At 259 million euros, the segment’s operating result was at the same level as 2022.

SLIDE 13: Other Entities Segment / Eliminations full-year 2023

Finally, you see the combined result from the Other Entities Segment and intersegment eliminations.

“Other Entities” recorded a loss in earnings before tax of 100 million euros. The decrease compared to 2022 was mainly driven by negative fair value measurement effects on interest rate hedging transactions.

Consolidations increased in earnings before tax to 1.3 billion euros. Lower eliminations associated with the leasing business had a positive effect compared to the previous year.

SLIDE 14: Dividend and Increased Pay-out Ratio

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the BMW Group, we remain focused on ensuring that our shareholders benefit from the company’s success.

The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will therefore propose a dividend of 6.00 euros per share of common stock and 6.02 euros per share of preferred stock to the Annual General Meeting. This results in a total dividend payout of approximately 3.8 billion euros. The higher dividend payout and earnings per share in 2022 reflected considerable one-off effects from the consolidation of BBA in our Group profit. Adjusted for the one-off effect, the dividend as well as earnings per share are higher in 2023.

The proposed dividend for 2023 represents a pay-out ratio of 33.7%. This is within our long-term strategic target range of 30-40% and also notably higher than the payout ratio in 2022.

At the end of June 2023, we successfully concluded the first program of our share buyback at 2 billion euros, which was approved at the Annual General Meeting in May 2022. On July 3rd last year, we launched the second program of up to 2 billion euros, with the first tranche concluding on December 31st. In total, 1.2 billion euros in share buyback were completed in 2023. The second tranche, with a volume of 500 million euros, started on January 2nd, and will be carried out by June 28, 2024, at the latest. The second share buyback program will be completed by December 31, 2025 at the latest.

Taking the proposed dividend and last year’s share buyback together, the total payout of 5 billion euros represents 92% of Auto free cashflow available to BMW AG shareholders.

This underscores the financial strength and robust cashflow generated by our operations, which supports optimal shareholder return.

Moving on from 2023, what are we expecting in 2024?

In the Automotive segment, we expect slight growth in volumes, driven by our young and attractive product portfolio. Specifically, we should see significant growth of our BEV share as well as a double-digit growth in the upper segment.

We anticipate an increase in material costs and supplier payments. However, this should be offset by a net tailwind from FX and commodities. The net impact of volume, mix and price should be slightly positive, and we will take our disciplined approach forward into 2024. At same time, lower profits from off-lease vehicles will weigh on Auto EBIT.

SLIDE 15: CapEx and R&D Ratios 2024

In 2024, we will hit our capex and R&D peak, as planned and communicated.

The continued implementation of our electrification and digitalization strategy will lead to greater research and development costs. Expenditure related to the NEUE KLASSE, such as the further development of the sixth-generation battery technology and preparations in the production network, will also impact the Group’s earnings and results in greater capital expenditure.

For the current financial year, we therefore expect a capex ratio above 6% and an R&D ratio above 5%. After 2024, both ratios will gradually return to our strategic corridors, which remain unchanged. For Capex: that means less than 5%. And for the R&D ratio: between 4 and 5 percent.

Despite the significant investment in future technologies, we will generate above 6 billion euros in Automotive free cashflow in 2024.

Financial services will benefit from the higher auto sales and stabilization of the interest rate environment. However, a decline in used-car values will negatively impact the result. And, given the higher lease penetration rate, we will see a lower eliminations result.

SLIDE 16: Outlook 2024

What do we expect for our key performance indicators in 2024?

In the Automotive Segment, deliveries of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles are expected to rise slightly year-on-year. The segment’s EBIT margin should fall within our strategic target corridor of 8 to 10 percent. The share of all-electric vehicles relative to total deliveries is expected to increase significantly compared to 2023.

In the Motorcycles Segment, deliveries are expected to increase slightly, with an EBIT margin within our target range of 8 to 10 percent.

Return on Equity in the Financial Services segment is forecast to land between 14% and 17%.

As expected, supply and demand continue to normalize for new and used cars. It is therefore expected that revenues from remarketing lease returns will be lower than 2023.

For the Group’s pre-tax profit, we expect a slight decrease. This is due primarily to the high level of expenses for research and development and capital expenditure, as outlined before. The decrease in the financial services business will also contribute to the slight decrease in Group profit before tax.

The Group’s headcount is forecast to increase slightly.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the BMW Group, our strong brands and attractive products have long formed the foundation for our success – and will continue to do so in the future. We allocate our capital in investments efficiently, in line with our long-term strategy. At the same time, we remain focused on cost discipline and profitability.

Our strategic perspective gives us clarity on our consistent path going forward, while our operational excellence secures our future competitive advantage and the overall health of the business. Our high flexibility allows us to meet market demand and consistently deliver on targets. And in 2023, it underpinned our profitable growth. The increase in our BEV sales to almost 15% put us in a strong position to overachieve the CO2 targets. We also recorded growth in the upper segment, resulting in a balanced and profitable mix.

As you know, our industry is known for its high complexity, for long life-cycles, and for tough regulatory requirements, which are ever-increasing. That is why our planning horizon always spans several years. As the Vision NEUE KLASSE X proves, our strategy ensures that we anticipate trends in the industry to remain ahead.

We are fully committed to deliver on our long-term strategic target of an 8-10% EBIT margin every year.

And we deliver what we promise. We have the right product line-up and the flexibility to meet customer needs across the globe. And our product offering is growing.

We will therefore continue with our profitable growth and also fulfill our targets, assuming market conditions remain stable. As everyone has seen in the BEV market in China, this is not always a given. At the BMW Group, we will maintain our balanced steering of multiple individual objectives to achieve all of our strategic priorities.

Our strong performance today is paving our road to tomorrow’s continued success. We remain confident about the 2024 financial year and beyond.

And now it’s time to hear from Oliver again: he’ll show you what we have in the pipeline across all brands to drive our success in the coming years.