Over A Quarter Of BMW, Mini, And Rolls-Royce Models Sold In Q3 Had A Plug

When looking at EVs specifically, one in every five cars in BMW Group’s portfolio was electric, with Europe leading the way.

Photo by: BMW

By: Iulian Dnistran

Nov 6, at 4:10am ET

Comment

BMW Group’s third-quarter EV sales reached 20% globally.
After throwing plug-in hybrids into the mix, the percentage reaches 27.4%.
Europe leads the way, with nearly 35% of cars sold in Q3 being EVs.

The BMW Group, which operates the BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce car brands, saw 20% of its global vehicle sales in the third quarter represented by all-electric models. Adding plug-in hybrids increases the electrified models’ share to 27.4%, the company said in its latest earnings report.

From the beginning of the year through September, EVs have accounted for 18.4% of the three automakers’ total sales worldwide, with PHEVs raising the figure to 26.1%.

BMW Group Q3 2026 global sales

Photo by: BMW

Despite the promising numbers, the automotive group clearly has a regionalization problem on its hands. Europe is leading the way by a wide margin, with 34.7% of sales represented by EVs and 46.9% by all electrified models.

Meanwhile, over in the United States, just 4.7% of BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce models sold were EVs. That’s a huge difference, and it puts the U.S. at the bottom of the BMW Group’s list for electrification. By comparison, Chinese EV sales amounted to 6.5%, while the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions totaled 18% EV sales.

The only thing that saves the day for the company’s electrified lineup in the U.S. is plug-in hybrids, which, together with EVs, had an 11.4% share in the third quarter. It’s also worth noting that the new iX3 and i3 models are just starting to trickle down to American dealers, and the U.S. also doesn’t get the electric iX2 and iX2 that Europeans have access to. The updated i7 is also on its way, but that has always been a low-volume car that never made a meaningful impact on the company’s sales reports.

What’s more, even though one in every five BMW Group models was all-electric in Q3, the company’s year-to-date numbers aren’t so promising. Globally, the group sold 314,552 EVs and 131,653 PHEVs from January through September, a 5.1% decrease compared to the same period last year. EVs saw a 2.7% drop, while PHEV sales declined 10.3%.

What do you think?

View

Comments

The only positive number in the company’s electrification Excel sheets has to do with how many EVs were sold in comparison to everything else in the portfolio. In the first three quarters of 2026, the share of EV sales within the BMW Group reached 18.4%, up from last year’s 18%.

Things should improve once the iX3 and i3 are widely available everywhere in the world, but they’re not guaranteed to be a success in the U.S., where policy whiplash has severely slowed the adoption of all-electric vehicles.