From day one, the BMW Group has opposed the European Union’s still-shocking determination to outlaw gross sales of recent combustion engine automobiles beginning in 2035. Whereas not an outright ICE ban, the requirement to scale back emissions to zero successfully quantities to 1. Until the carbon-neutral gas business catches up or hydrogen-burning engines acquire traction, the EU will remove combustion engines from new automobiles by the center of the following decade.
However right here’s the factor: in 2025, the BMW Group wouldn’t be in a tough place to assist the laws. Within the first half of the yr, one in 4 automobiles bought in Europe didn’t have an engine in any respect. That’s proper, EVs made up 25% of the Group’s European gross sales, together with electrical fashions from MINI and Rolls-Royce. The primary BMW model is at present the third best-selling electrical automaker on the continent.
In case you embrace plug-in hybrids, practically 40% of the BMW Group’s European gross sales within the first six months have been electrified. For the core model alone, PHEV deliveries surged by practically 30% year-over-year.
Globally, the Group’s EV share reached 18.3% in H1 2025, up from 15.7% in the identical interval of 2024. This was potential after increasing the all-electric portfolio to greater than 15 fashions. The BMW Group stays dedicated to its purpose of getting EVs account for at the least half of whole gross sales by the top of the last decade. Regardless of the encouraging first-half 2025 outcomes, CEO Oliver Zipse stays agency in his perception that buyers deserve choices:
“To satisfy shopper wants, particularly in a product as complicated and private as a automotive, there is no such thing as a single reply. The simplest strategic strategy is to make use of all applied sciences to scale back CO? emissions general. (BMW is) advocating for a evaluate of the 2030 and 2035 targets within the EU.”
Zipse additionally highlighted the greater than 250 million automobiles already on the street within the EU. Earlier than everybody switches to an EV, he argues, decarbonization ought to begin with the prevailing fleet by switching to renewable fuels. That will, in fact, require assist from a complete business, however there was progress. BMW’s CEO pointed to HVO100already out there in some markets, which may reduce CO? emissions by as much as 90% in comparison with typical fuels.
It’s price noting that the 2035 ICE ban on new automobiles just isn’t set in stone. The European Union will evaluate the laws subsequent yr, so there’s a probability the deadline might be postponed.
