BMW First-Half 2026 Revenue and Profit Fall, China Sales Drop Over 20%, EV Transition Shows Signs of

In the first half of 2026, BMW Group achieved revenue of 62.266 billion euros, down 8% year-on-year. Operating profit was 3.635 billion euros, down 37.4%; pre-tax profit was 4.045 billion euros, down 29.4%; net profit was 2.858 billion euros, down 25.7%. The group's pre-tax profit margin fell to 6.5% from 8.5% in the same period last year.

The core automotive business continued to face pressure. In the first half, automotive EBIT was 1.974 billion euros, down 45.6% year-on-year; the EBIT margin fell to 3.6% from 6.2% in the same period of 2025. In the second quarter, this margin further declined to 2.3%. Automotive free cash flow was 1.29 billion euros, down 45% year-on-year. Intense competition in the Chinese market, negative currency effects, depreciation and amortization, and rising raw material costs were the main factors eroding profits.

In terms of global deliveries, in the first half BMW Group delivered a total of 1.1567 million vehicles under the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, down 4.2% year-on-year. Among them, BMW brand sales were 1.0047 million units, down 6.2%; MINI sales were 149,500 units, up 11.7%; Rolls-Royce sales were 2,523 units, down 9.8%. Regional market performance diverged: European sales rose 5.4% year-on-year, the US market grew 3.9%, while China sales fell 20.4%, with the decline widening to 30.2% in the second quarter. China's share of the group's global deliveries fell to 22.6%.

The electric vehicle business showed signs of improvement. In the second quarter, global pure electric deliveries reached 116,800 units, up 5.2% year-on-year, and the EV penetration rate rose to 19.8%. In Europe, pure electric sales increased 37.9% year-on-year, with pure electric models accounting for 31.3% of European sales. However, cumulative global pure electric deliveries in the first half were 204,300 units, still down 7.4% year-on-year.

Facing profit pressure, BMW Group has reached a personnel restructuring agreement with labor unions and introduced a voluntary severance plan with compensation, without disclosing the specific number of job cuts. On the product front, the group plans to launch more than 40 new and facelifted models by the end of 2026, including the long-wheelbase versions of the BMW iX3 and BMW i3 for the Chinese market.