BMW Group’s latest sales release offers a useful snapshot of how uneven the electric-vehicle market remains across regions. The company reported that its battery-electric vehicle (BEV) deliveries in Europe rose sharply in the second quarter of 2026, while a steep decline in China pulled down the group’s wider first-half performance. The figures, published in BMW’s official sales release, also provide an early view of the commercial momentum behind the Neue Klasse generation.
BMW described the first half of the year as mixed rather than uniformly strong. The group delivered 1,156,742 vehicles worldwide between January and June, down 4.2% from the same period a year earlier. That overall result concealed a significant regional split: BMW and MINI sales increased by 5.4% in Europe and 3.9% in the United States, while sales in the company’s China region fell 20.4%.
European BEV deliveries accelerated in the second quarter
The clearest electric-mobility signal came from the second quarter. BMW Group delivered 116,807 fully electric BMW and MINI vehicles worldwide between April and June, an increase of 5.2% year on year. Europe was considerably stronger than the global figure. The company reported 81,445 BEV deliveries in the region, up 38.0% from the second quarter of 2025.
BMW also said it ranked second for fully electric vehicle registrations in Germany during the quarter. The release identifies these German figures as provisional registration data, which is important context: they are not presented as a final, independently audited market ranking. The wider European delivery figure is a BMW Group sales figure, covering vehicles delivered by the BMW and MINI brands.
The company’s regional sales table shows that Europe was not simply benefiting from a broader BMW recovery. BMW and MINI deliveries in Europe rose 7.6% in the second quarter and 5.4% for the first half, while China declined 30.2% in the quarter. The contrast suggests that the group’s electric performance cannot be understood through one global percentage alone.
Neue Klasse gives BMW a new sales reference point
The release links the European BEV improvement with the arrival of the Neue Klasse product family. Deliveries of the new BMW iX3 had begun in Europe, and BMW said incoming orders were on track to reach its next milestone of 100,000. The company also said the second Neue Klasse model, the BMW i3, was attracting strong demand after orders opened ahead of its launch.
Those statements are company-reported indicators of demand, not independent measures of customer satisfaction or long-term market share. They do, however, show how BMW is positioning the new electric models within its broader sales strategy. The group is using the Neue Klasse name for a new generation of vehicles and technologies, but the July release does not provide a full breakdown of iX3 orders by country, order cancellations, delivery timing or profitability.
That distinction matters when reading the numbers. The 38% European increase describes deliveries made during the quarter; it does not mean that every BMW electric model grew at the same rate, nor that the same pace will automatically continue. BMW’s release also notes that delivery figures are provisional and may change before the group’s full 2026 report is published.
China remains the main counterweight
China was the most difficult part of BMW’s first-half picture. BMW and MINI sales in the company’s China region fell 20.4% year on year for the first six months and 30.2% in the second quarter. The release attributes the wider weakness to a significant decline in the Chinese market and the Asia-Pacific region, alongside increasingly difficult competitive conditions.
BMW does not provide a separate China BEV delivery figure in this release. That prevents a direct comparison between the 38% European BEV increase and the decline in China. It would therefore be misleading to describe the announcement as evidence of a global electric-vehicle rebound. The more defensible reading is narrower: BMW’s electric deliveries were growing strongly in Europe in the second quarter, while its overall regional performance remained exposed to conditions in China.
MINI adds a second electric-mobility signal
MINI provided another positive element in the release. The brand sold 149,538 vehicles in the first half of 2026, up 11.7% year on year, marking its sixth consecutive quarter of growth. BMW said MINI’s fully electric models experienced strong global demand and were the brand’s primary growth driver, although it did not publish a separate BEV delivery total for MINI.
Taken together, the BMW and MINI figures show a portfolio in transition. Electric models are contributing to growth in parts of the business, especially in Europe, but the group’s total result is still shaped by regional demand, product timing and the performance of combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles together.
What the announcement confirms—and what it does not
BMW’s July release confirms three concrete points: European BEV deliveries rose 38% in the second quarter; the new BMW iX3 was entering customer deliveries in Europe; and the group’s first-half results varied sharply by region. It does not establish that the Neue Klasse has already changed BMW’s global competitive position, that the iX3 will meet its order milestone, or that European growth will continue at the same rate.
For readers tracking automotive electrification, that measured distinction is the useful news. BMW is reporting meaningful momentum for its electric range in Europe, but the same announcement also records falling total deliveries worldwide and a substantial decline in China. The early Neue Klasse signal is therefore encouraging for BMW’s European rollout, while still incomplete as a verdict on the company’s global electric strategy.