Nicolas Peter, chief financial officer (CFO), stated in a roundtable on Monday that BMW anticipates reaching the higher end of its 7-9% profit target for the vehicles division and anticipates a little increase in sales in 2023.
The CFO described it as a “rollercoaster” year in their largest sales region, China, where demand was rebounding in the third quarter after lockdowns afflicted the first half.
Order books were remained full in Europe, although demand varied by country, being higher in France, Spain, and Italy while being weaker in Germany and the United Kingdom.
According to Peter, the premium automaker anticipates selling between 240,000 and 245,000 fully electric vehicles this year, and that number may rise to about 400,000 the next year.
When asked how BMW was addressing the European gas crisis, Peter responded that the company has decreased its gas use in Germany and Austria by 15% and anticipated being able to further reduce it.
The gas problem won’t directly affect us this year, according to Peter, who also said that thus far, none of its supplier network’s production has been reduced.
In the past week, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have described backup plans in case their supply networks are unable to deliver parts. These strategies include boosting orders from suppliers outside of the European nations most hit by the gas crisis.
Peter would not go into specifics of whether BMW was following suit, but he did state that since the chip shortage, the company has become much closer to its network of suppliers.
