Tag Archives: BMW

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BMW sales results in nine months of 2023

After most of the world’s car manufacturers announced their sales results for the first nine months of 2023, many of them recorded sales growth, including BMW. This Bavarian giant has sold 1.62 million cars worldwide, surpassing its competitors Mercedes and Audi.

According to the BMW Group report, in the third quarter of this year, BMW sold 621,699 vehicles worldwide, an increase of 5.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022. The closest competitor was Mercedes, which delivered 1.52 million cars since the beginning of the year, with sales growth of 2 percent. Although Audi recorded a sales growth of 16.2% compared to 2022, it was not enough to threaten the position of these two companies. In nine months of this year, Audi sold 1.38 million cars worldwide.

BMW sold 217,138 battery cars on the global market, of which 83,211 were BEVs. Mercedes-Benz delivered 174,471 electric cars, while Audi sold 123,000 vehicles in the same period.

When it comes to the BMW Group (BMW and Mini BEV and PHEV cars), in 3Q BMW delivered a total of 139,943 units, which is a growth of 42%, with a 22.5% market share. The highest demand was for BEV cars (93,931) which recorded an increase of 80 percent, while 46,012 PHEV cars were delivered, a decrease of 1 percent. Since January, the Bavarian company has delivered a total of 385,411 cars (up 36%), of which BEVs 246,867 units (up 93%) and PHEVs 138,544 units (down 11%).

Source: BMW

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BMW ZBF 7er

A video of the BMW ZBF 7er was published on the BMW Group Classic YouTube channel. It’s a concept that few knew about, with an aluminum body, developed in the 90s by a team led by the designer of the BMW 3 Series E36 or Z3 Roadster, Joji Nagashima. Also, it was a futuristic concept at the time that inspired the design of the current models.

The car had a vertical front grille, door handles that retracted into the body, a video camera instead of exterior mirrors (on the right side) and an early version of BMW’s iDrive system. It was 25 years before the first cars were equipped with this type of equipment. It also had specially designed 20″ wheels which was new, as the largest wheel size up to that time was 19″.

The interior of the car was also futuristic. Passengers on the rear bench could use laptops that were integrated into the back of the front seats.

BMW ZBF 7er is exhibited in the space, where a large number of models produced by this Bavarian company are exhibited.

Source: BMW Group Classic via YouTube

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BMW terminates contract with VDL causing 2,000 job losses

The global car market is in crisis, although some companies are recording positive sales results. Many companies try to reduce costs by laying off workers or shutting down production in some factories, this primarily applies to large European manufacturers such as BMW, which terminated the contract with the Dutch VDL Nedcar (part of VDL Groep) causing the loss of 2,000 jobs.

VDL factory in the Netherlands

The VDL Nedcar factory started production in 1967 and since then has produced cars for Volvo, Smart, Mitsubishi, BMW and Mini. It is the only large car factory in the Netherlands with an annual production capacity of up to 200,000 cars. However, now due to the loss of the contract with BMW, which also includes the assembly of some Mini cars, they are forced to gradually lay off most of the workforce.

CEO of VDL Nedcar John van Soerland said that the company is currently in a difficult situation but will make an extra effort to attract new customers. From March 2024, Nedcar will retain only 450 employees to work on prototypes for potential new customers and finalize contractual obligations with BMW.

“We remain fully committed to making VDL Nedcar stronger in the future,” said van Soerland.

Source: VDL Nedcar