Falling demand for combustion engines: Struggling Chinese business is causing BMW to decline in sales

Demand for burning has fallen significantly on the Chinese market. All German car manufacturers are feeling this strongly, including BMW. However, the Munich-based company can make gains in two other important markets.

The collapse of the Chinese market resulted in a decline in sales for the Munich car manufacturer BMW in the summer. In total, the company sold 551,072 cars and motorcycles in the third quarter, 6.3 percent less than in the previous year. The main reason for this is the weakness in China, where BMW sold 24.8 percent less with 114,355 vehicles. In Europe and the USA, however, there was an increase of 2.7 and 2.5 percent respectively.

Sales boss Jochen Goller said BMW had performed well in Europe and the USA in a difficult global market environment. “In particular, the continued strong incoming orders for fully electric vehicles confirm our course.” The strong demand for the new class of vehicles such as the iX3 as well as for cars with this technology strengthens BMW's position for the coming challenges.

Like the other German manufacturers, the Munich-based company is suffering from the weakness of the entire market in China, where demand for combustion cars is falling rapidly and customers prefer domestic providers when it comes to electric cars. However, the decline at BMW was smaller than that of its competitors from Stuttgart and Wolfsburg: Mercedes recently reported a decline of almost a third, Volkswagen even reported a decline of almost two-fifths.

In Europe, however, BMW benefited from the strong demand for electric cars. Global sales of electric cars increased by 7.2 percent to 110,257 vehicles in the summer quarter. In Europe, every third BMW delivered was an electric car. Fully electric vehicles from BMW have recorded exceptionally strong growth, particularly in Germany.

The Munich-based company brought the electric iX3 onto the market here about a year ago, which is being built in the new factory in Debrecen, Hungary. Within a year, more than 100,000 orders for the car were received in Europe alone, making it the most successful market launch of a BMW model to date.