Mathilde Carlier
Research Expert covering transportation and logistics
BMW Group - Statistics & Facts
With a strong foothold in the luxury vehicle market, the German BMW Group has been investing in progress and innovation throughout the years to maintain its position in the automotive industry. In 2023, the BMW Group's eponymous brand BMW ranked among the global top ten leading brands across sectors. Its main competitors, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, were the only automotive brands higher up in the ranking. Founded in 1916, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG initially manufactured aircraft engines before producing its first motorcycle, the BMW R 32, in 1923. The manufacturer began producing automobiles in 1928, and automotive sales grew to become the group’s main revenue stream, generating nearly 132.3 billion euros in earnings in 2023. To support this segment, the group had been investing in the use of artificial intelligence in vehicle manufacturing and in fleet electrification.
Including its MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG generated around 155.5 billion euros in revenue in the 2023 fiscal year. This was a year-over-year increase of nine percent and the highest revenue recorded by the group since 2007. BMW's vehicle deliveries increased that same year, up 6.4 percent for its automotive segment. This was the highest delivery volume on record since 2007, boosted in part by the growing global interest in electric vehicles. Due to this positive performance, the BMW brand remained the leading luxury car brand in the world, above Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla.
In the United States, BMW was the best-perceived car brand as of February 2023 and is most popular with younger drivers. This popularity was in part linked with the brand's good online visibility. As of August 2023, in the United States, 30 percent of consumers had noticed the brand in the media, on social media, or in advertising in the previous three months. Compared to BMW, its competitors Audi and Mercedes-Benz were noticed by a lower share of consumers. In Germany, the company's country of origin, over a third of consumers had noticed the eponymous brand in the media, a share only surpassed by Audi.
Including its MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG generated around 155.5 billion euros in revenue in the 2023 fiscal year. This was a year-over-year increase of nine percent and the highest revenue recorded by the group since 2007. BMW's vehicle deliveries increased that same year, up 6.4 percent for its automotive segment. This was the highest delivery volume on record since 2007, boosted in part by the growing global interest in electric vehicles. Due to this positive performance, the BMW brand remained the leading luxury car brand in the world, above Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla.
Tapping into the electric vehicle market
As the road vehicle and transportation industry is shifting towards electrification, autonomy, and mobility, BMW Group is aware it must stay relevant. Though the company did not rank among the five manufacturers with the highest share of the global plug-in electric vehicle market in 2023, it had been steadily increasing its fully electric vehicle deliveries across all brands. Notably, Rolls-Royce, which did not deliver any battery-electric cars to customers in 2022, sold some 326 all-electric vehicles in 2023. The automotive manufacturer also has plans to expand the electric model lines of its eponymous brand, adding the i4 and iX to its line-up in 2021. Sales of its BMW i series, which had been deeply impacted by the pandemic, declined by 18.7 percent in 2023, due to a dip in sales for the i3 and i8 models. However, the BMW Group kept investing in research and development, including in research on electric powertrain. In 2022, the company invested five percent of its sales revenue into research and development.A secure place in the global market
The company is headquartered in Germany but has factories in many other countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, and China. The latter is becoming BMW's most important market; nearly one-third of vehicle sales in 2023 were in China. BMW operates in a joint venture with the Chinese company BMW Brilliance Auto.In the United States, BMW was the best-perceived car brand as of February 2023 and is most popular with younger drivers. This popularity was in part linked with the brand's good online visibility. As of August 2023, in the United States, 30 percent of consumers had noticed the brand in the media, on social media, or in advertising in the previous three months. Compared to BMW, its competitors Audi and Mercedes-Benz were noticed by a lower share of consumers. In Germany, the company's country of origin, over a third of consumers had noticed the eponymous brand in the media, a share only surpassed by Audi.
