BMW 'Not Ready' to Give Up on ICE

BMW is committed to continued investment in ICE powertrains despite its acceleration of development funds into BEV models.

That’s because the automaker has found ICE powered vehicle sales in major growth markets, such as China and the US, remain very strong, Reuters reports. BMW said it is close to hitting its target of 15% battery-electric sales this year, beating Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, for whom battery-electric cars have so far made up around 11% of sales.

However, its CEO Oliver Zipse, a longstanding advocate of investing in technologies to cut carbon emissions, said there was “no indication that the world is renouncing combustion engine vehicles”. He would not be drawn on setting an end date for BMW’s production of ICE powertrains, as rivals Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have done. “It's still too soon,” he said on a press call following half-year results.

BMW reported a 2.9% drop in second-quarter net profits, in line with analysts' expectations, after last year's figures were boosted by its decision to take majority control of its Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA). However, it said second-quarter earnings had benefited from higher pricing and sales, which rose 11.3%. It forecast growth in the European automotive market, robust sales in the US and marginal growth in China for the remainder of the year.

Group research and development spending was up 15.4% in the first half, focused on electrification and automated driving, and capital expenditure rose 10.3%. Higher material and manufacturing costs also weighed on results in the first half.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_  and Threads