BMW's EV Deliveries Climb Again, But Europe Is Carrying the Load

BMW Group’s battery-electric deliveries edged upward in the third quarter, yet the headline number hides a stark regional split. The German automaker handed over 110,257 fully electric vehicles between July and September, a 7.2% gain over the same stretch a year ago. Plug-in hybrids moved in the opposite direction, sliding roughly 16.2% to 40,538 units. Combined, the two categories totaled 150,795 deliveries, essentially flat with a 0.3% dip. Those figures count Mini and Rolls-Royce alongside the core BMW brand.

The quarterly uptick continues a recovery that began after a difficult start to the year. BMW’s first-quarter report showed 87,488 BEVs delivered, a 20.1% year-over-year decline. The second quarter bounced back to 116,807 units, up 5.2%, and Q3 kept the momentum going even though total volume came in below Q2. Through September, the group’s electric tally reached 314,552, still 2.7% behind the January-September period a year earlier. There is ground left to recover, in other words. One bright note: fully electric models made up one in five vehicles BMW delivered in Q3, even as group-wide sales fell 6.3%.

Europe did nearly all of the work. BMW delivered 81,941 EVs there in the third quarter, a 37.5% jump, with electric models taking 34.7% of regional deliveries. That followed a similarly strong second quarter, when European EV volume rose 38%. Strip Europe out of the global picture and Q3 electric deliveries drop to 28,316 — roughly 34.5% below the prior-year period, based on BMW’s rounded growth rates. Europe now represents close to three-quarters of the group’s global electric deliveries, a concentration that underscores how uneven the transition remains across markets.

At the center of that European strength is the iX3. The electric crossover debuted in March, and BMW had built 50,000 examples by July. The company now says it has logged more than 100,000 European orders within a year, describing it as its most successful model launch — though those are order and production figures, not global deliveries. The iX3 has yet to go on sale in several markets, including the United States, where the new i3 sedan is expected to reach dealerships early next year. BMW has also confirmed an i3 Touring wagon, while the recently revealed iX4 applies the iX3 formula to a coupe-like crossover, with a U.S. launch set for March 2027.

Further out, the larger iX5 is due in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2027, and a refreshed i7 flagship sedan is already reaching American buyers with improved range and charging. BMW is also preparing to move downmarket, with an entry-level Neue Klasse EV planned for 2028 that would slot below the i3. Pricing has not been announced. The iX3 has given the brand an encouraging start; the open question is whether a wider electric lineup can translate Europe’s momentum into gains elsewhere.