BMW expects at least half of its sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, setting a more conservative target compared to some competitors in the race to embrace cleaner driving.
In the short term, the German automaker forecast on Wednesday a big boost in pretax profit for this year, with a strong performance in all areas – from MINIS through its upmarket BMW brand to top-of-the-range Rolls-Royces.
Its shares increased as much as 4.9% to a 2-1/2 year high of 84.42 euros, buoyed by its forecast for a strong recovery from a coronavirus affected 2020.
BMW said around 90% of its market categories would have entirely electric models available by 2023 and the electric BMW i4 would be introduced three months ahead of schedule this year.
The automaker said its MINI brand would be fully electric “by the early 2030s” and electric models would represent at least 50% of group deliveries by 2030.
When asked if BMW could set a date for ending sales of internal combustion engines, as some competitors have, Chief Technology Officer Frank Weber said they don’t decide on the end of “the internal combustion engine, but it’s the markets”.
