BMW Gambled On EVs And People Were Mad. But The Gamble Worked

• BMW Group’s global sales numbers went down in the first half of the year.
• EVs and PHEVs saw double-digit growth, keeping the company from going down even further.
• The group sold 15.7% more electric cars in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year.

The BMW Group, which owns the BMW brand, is proving critics wrong by posting yet another positive quarter for electrified vehicle sales. While Tesla recorded a double-digit dip in global deliveries in the second quarter, as well as the first half, the German automotive group is experiencing the exact opposite.

In the second quarter, BMW Group’s overall electrified vehicle sales, which include all-electric and plug-in hybrid models, went up by 10.2% year-over-year, reaching 161,462 units. After the first six months, the group’s electrified vehicle sales increased by 18.5% for a total of 318,949 units.

The i4 is one of BMW’s best-selling EVs.

Photo by: InsideEVs

It’s more of the same when plug-in hybrids are taken out of the equation. In Q2, all-electric vehicle sales reached 111,027 units, a 2.9% increase year-over-year. After the first half of the year, total EV sales amounted to 220,540 cars, an increase of 15.7% compared to last year.

In the case of the BMW brand, plug-in hybrids in particular saw a huge uptick in interest from customers. The automaker sold 98,339 PHEVs in the first half, a 28.9% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, however, BMW EVs saw a slight decline of 3% in the first six months compared to 2024, going from 179,557 units last year to 174,063 in the first half of 2025.

Mini was the main driver of BMW Group’s EV sales increase, with one in three new Minis sold being an EV. Overall, the British brand saw an uptick of 17.3% in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce, which builds the Spectre EV, sold 0.8% fewer cars in the first six months of this year, for a total of 2,796 units. That’s a very low number compared to any other traditional automaker, but it’s worth noting that luxury carmakers make their money from higher price tags instead of higher volumes.

BMW’s EV sales numbers should get even better starting next year, when the all-new Neue Klasse models will hit the road, beginning with the iX3 crossover. Sitting on a bespoke 800-volt architecture, the new battery-powered models promise charging speeds of over 400 kilowatts and a driving range of up to 560 miles on a full charge.