BMW Group’s Global EV Sales Crater 20% As U.S. Market Cools Off

The new iX3 is hugely successful in Europe, but it wasn’t enough to offset the big declines recorded in China and the U.S.

2026 BMW iX3

Photo by: BMW

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Apr 15, at 6:23am ET

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BMW Group reported a 20% decrease in global EV sales in the first quarter.
The German company saw a big spike in EV sales in Europe, but it wasn’t enough to push the final tally up.
Figures may change in the following quarters as the iX3 SUV becomes available in additional countries.

BMW’s global electric vehicle sales have fallen dramatically in this year’s first quarter, despite the company having to boost output of the new iX3 ahead of schedule to meet demand in Europe.

From January through March, BMW Group, which includes the BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce brands, sold 87,458 all-electric cars worldwide, a 20.1% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Gallery: 2026 BMW iX3

2026 BMW iX3

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2026 BMW iX3

Source: BMW

The German car company finished 2025 strong, with a 3.6% increase in overall EV sales, but the cracks began to show toward the end of the year, as fourth-quarter sales dipped 10.5% year-over-year, reaching 118,635 units. Compared to the last three months of 2025, the BMW Group sold 26% fewer EVs in the first quarter of this year.

It’s worth noting that deliveries of the iX3 SUV, which is one of the most well-rounded EVs out there, only started in March in Europe, with more markets on track to begin sales soon. Since going on sale, the iX3 has racked up over 50,000 orders in Europe alone, amounting to more than half of the BMW X3s ordered, which is a sign of good things to come.

BMW said that its EV orders rose by a whopping 40% year-over-year in Europe, while sales numbers for China and the United States faltered. The company said that it outperformed the total market in China and that “the discontinuation of EV incentives impacted the entire market” in the U.S. In other words, sales boomed in Europe, but faltered in China and the U.S.

Stateside, the BMW brand moved 9,856 EVs and PHEVs in Q1 2026, a 50% drop from the 19,761 cars sold in the same period last year. The company did not break out the figures for EVs and PHEVs. However, according to Cox Automotive, the German car brand sold 4,963 EVs in the U.S. in the first quarter, down 63.3% year over year.

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Globally, BMW Group sold 132,518 electric cars and plug-in hybrids from January through March, a 15.9% dip compared to the first quarter of 2025.

Overall, the car group recorded a 3.5% sales dip in the first quarter, delivering 565,748 cars. In Germany, BMW and Mini saw a 10.7% increase, with European sales growing 3% for the two brands. However, the two mainstream marques were in the red everywhere else, and even Rolls-Royce, which has traditionally been immune to major market shifts, had its sales decline 8%, reaching 1,271 units in Q1.

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