BMW posts profit drop, reaffirming importance of Chinese market

BMW CEO Oliver Zipse reaffirmed the critical importance of the Chinese market and described it as a highly dynamic and competitive market.

BERLIN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- German carmaker BMW reported a decline in profits last year, coinciding with a record-high investment in research and development hitting 9.1 billion euros (9.9 billion U.S. dollars).

According to the company's financial report released on Friday, before-tax profit saw a setback to 11 billion euros in 2024, down 35.8 percent from the previous year.

BMW chief financial officer Walter Mertl stated that the EBIT margin (a key indicator of profitability) in the automotive segment was 6.3 percent, in line with the revised target set for 2024, but still below the long-term goal range of 8 to 10 percent.

Globally, the automaker delivered 2.45 million vehicles last year, marking a slight decline from 2023. BMW attributed this drop partially to a temporary delivery halt caused by technical issues with the braking systems.

The profit drop was also attributed to high costs and significant investments, including key research and development for BMW's flagship "Neue Klasse" electric vehicles, set to launch later this year. Mertl emphasized that a major reduction in these expenditures will begin in 2025, while the company plans to increase production capacity this year.

In his remarks, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse reaffirmed the critical importance of the Chinese market and described it as a highly dynamic and competitive market. "China remains unchanged as a key market for the BMW Group," he said, noting that more than a quarter of all BMW vehicles were sold there in 2024.

Zipse further highlighted that China has become BMW's strongest single market for electric vehicles, with the company delivering over 100,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) there for the first time last year. He also mentioned that the group is expanding its high-voltage battery assembly plants in key sales regions including China, to strengthen its electric vehicle production within a local supplier network.

In 2024, BMW announced an additional investment of 2.5 billion euros in its Chinese production facility, which has already reached a cumulative production total of 6 million BMW vehicles. Today, China stands as the carmaker's largest single market globally, as well as the largest R&D and production base outside of Germany. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar) ■