AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/12 Report--

On September 10th, BMW Group adjusted its guidance for fiscal year 2024. BMW Group said that due to technical problems leading to the suspension of some cars, technical problems related to the integrated braking system affected more than 1.5 million vehicles of the brand, which would have a negative impact on global sales in the second half of the year and lead to additional high warranty costs in the third quarter.

At the same time, BMW said sales were also affected by persistently sluggish demand in key markets such as China. Based on this, BMW made the following adjustments to its guidance for fiscal year 2024: delivery will decline year on year, with expected growth; profit margin before interest and tax in 2024 will be between 6 and 7 per cent (previously 8 to 10 per cent); return on capital use (RoCE) between 11 and 13 per cent (previously 15 to 20 per cent)

Affected by the news, the share price of BMW Group fell sharply.

Earlier, BMW Group released financial results for the first half of 2024, showing that the total revenue of BMW Group's automobile business in the first half of the year was 63.009 billion euros, which was basically the same as that of 62.898 billion euros in the same period last year. Although overall income was roughly the same as in the same period last year, its pre-tax profit fell 14.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. Data show that BMW's pre-tax profit in the first half of the year was 8.023 billion euros, compared with 9.351 billion euros in the same period last year, a decrease of nearly 1.4 billion euros.

The decline in BMW Group profits is mainly due to the price war in the Chinese market. In the first half of 2024, BMW Group delivered 1.213 million new cars worldwide (including BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce), basically the same as in the same period. Of these, BMW brand sales totaled 1.096 million, up 2.3 per cent year-on-year, while the other two major brands declined, while Rolls-Royce fell 11.4 per cent and the mini fell 18.8 per cent.

In terms of the global market, BMW sold 460800 vehicles in Europe in the first half, up 2.6 per cent from the same period last year. The UK market was BMW's largest growth market, with 16.4 per cent year-on-year growth; in other markets, BMW also achieved growth in North America, with sales of 230100 vehicles, up 2.0 per cent year-on-year, and 188800 vehicles in the US market, up 1.4 per cent year-on-year.

As BMW Group's largest market in the world, BMW has declined in China. In the first half of the year, BMW delivered 494600 new cars in the Asian market, down 3.6 per cent from a year earlier, of which 376400 were delivered in China, down 4.3 per cent from a year earlier, accounting for 31 per cent of BMW's total global sales. As for the reasons for the decline in sales in the Chinese market, BMW and its peers are under pressure in key markets, where local carmakers are winning market share with lower-cost electric vehicles, forcing its European competitors to cut prices sharply. "

Since the beginning of this year, the price war in the automobile industry has spread to the luxury car field, and luxury brands, including BMW, have been forced to join the price war, and the terminal market prices of many models under the brand have fallen sharply. as a result, many 4S stores are selling cars at a loss, and 4S stores almost fall into a vicious circle of losing money. Not only that, price sales also hurt the value of the brand. BBA, which once represented luxury, has gradually declined, and its market share has begun to be eroded by independent new energy brands.

Apart from BMW, other big carmakers are also having a hard time. In addition to BMW, Volkswagen, Renault Group, Tesla, Ford, Nissan and other auto companies all showed "income without profit", while Stellantis Group showed a double drop in revenue and profit, while Toyota Motor and Hyundai Motor achieved double increase in revenue and profit. Volkswagen, the world's second-largest group, plans to close its German factory and force layoffs in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

At present, the whole luxury car market is facing the challenges of declining sales and electric transformation, especially the brand premium of luxury brands has been difficult to transmit to electric vehicle products in the past years, and the terminal price of electric vehicle products launched by BBA has plunged sharply. According to the plan, the new generation BMW model will be launched on the global market in 2025, and at least six models will be put into production in the next two years. The new car will be equipped with a new electronic and electrical architecture, a new user interface and human-computer interaction concept, and a new high-performance electric drive battery system.

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