On their path toward electrification, European manufacturers have made radically different decisions. It would be risky to say today which ones will be correct in the long term, but on the eve of the tightening of CO regulations2 In 2025, we begin to distinguish the winners and losers of the first stage. Illustration with two German giants: BMW and Volkswagen.
Whatever choices they made, neither BMW nor Volkswagen escaped a grim back-to-school situation. Both had to undergo the unpleasant exercise of profit warningthe downward revision of its profit forecasts. Both suffer from weak demand in China and the revenge of their local competitors for sales of electric cars. “My father, who was a BMW customer, went electric with Nio [un constructeur chinois] »says Lei Yang, consultant at the German consulting firm EAC.
In Europe, your situation is different. BMW, financially penalized by a massive recall following a defect in its integrated braking system, is doing quite well in electrification, while Volkswagen is struggling. This summer, in July, the BMW group even took the lead in the European market for battery-powered cars, surpassing the American Tesla for the first time, as highlighted in a note from the automotive company Jato Dynamics, with a jump of 35% . its electric vehicle sales in one year, while Tesla saw its sales fall by 16%. Unlike Volkswagen, BMW says it is capable of meeting European CO reduction standards2 in 2025. “In France, says Vincent Salimon, local director of BMW, We are already at 26% of 100% electric cars in our total sales at the end of August and even at 50% with the plug-in hybrid. Globally, we are at 17%. »
The “premium” advantage
The first obstacle to the acquisition of an electric vehicle for an average customer remains the purchase price. So it’s no surprise that BMW is doing better than its overall competitor. “Electric vehicles from premium brands (Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Jaguar, Tesla) are expensive, but the richest customers accept the price difference compared to the equivalent models in the thermal version, while among general manufacturers, “Less wealthy clients are less likely to do so.”says Michel Costes, president of the company Inovev, specialized in automobile market forecasts.
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