BMW’s Neue Klasse Bet Is Already Paying Off in Europe, Even as China Drags the Numbers Down


BMW Group delivered around 1.15 million vehicles in the first half of 2026, a 4.2 percent decline overall. On paper that reads as a down half. Look closer and the picture is a lot more interesting, because the regions where BMW actually controls its own destiny (Europe and the US) both grew, while the drag came almost entirely from a China market that’s behaving nothing like the rest of the world right now.
Europe sales rose 5.4 percent for the half, and the US delivered 3.9 percent growth, with the BMW brand itself outperforming the broader American market. China and the wider Asia-Pacific region, meanwhile, fell sharply enough to pull the global total negative despite two of BMW’s three biggest markets moving in the right direction.
The real story is the Neue Klasse ramp. With the iX3 now reaching customers in Europe, BMW Group’s fully electric deliveries hit 116,807 units in Q2, up 5.2 percent, and Europe alone saw BEV growth of 38.0 percent for the quarter. Germany was a standout, with BMW climbing to second place for electric vehicle registrations in Q2. Jochen Goller said the iX3 is tracking toward its first 100,000-order milestone, and that the i3, the second Neue Klasse model, is already generating strong demand ahead of launch.BMW Group delivered around 1.15 million vehicles in the first half of 2026, a 4.2 percent decline overall. On paper that reads as a down half. Look closer and the picture is a lot more interesting, because the regions where BMW actually controls its own destiny (Europe and the US) both grew, while the drag came almost entirely from a China market that’s behaving nothing like the rest of the world right now.

Europe sales rose 5.4 percent for the half, and the US delivered 3.9 percent growth, with the BMW brand itself outperforming the broader American market. China and the wider Asia-Pacific region, meanwhile, fell sharply enough to pull the global total negative despite two of BMW’s three biggest markets moving in the right direction.
The real story is the Neue Klasse ramp. With the iX3 now reaching customers in Europe, BMW Group’s fully electric deliveries hit 116,807 units in Q2, up 5.2 percent, and Europe alone saw BEV growth of 38.0 percent for the quarter. Germany was a standout, with BMW climbing to second place for electric vehicle registrations in Q2. Jochen Goller said the iX3 is tracking toward its first 100,000-order milestone, and that the i3, the second Neue Klasse model, is already generating strong demand ahead of launch.