[Auto] BMW raises target for EV sales, plans new electric-focused platform

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MUNICH -- BMW expects a significant increase in group profit in 2021 as it forecast a strong performance in all of its segments. The automaker also targeted a steep rise in electric-vehicle sales. The automaker plans for about half of total sales to be fully electric by the end of the decade, it said on Wednesday. The company also confirmed that its Mini brand will only sell battery-powered cars by the early 2030s. The BMW i4 sedan will be launched three months ahead of schedule this year. The company said it will disclose the i4's sales date in the next weeks. Its iX flagship electric SUV will go on sale by the end of the year. The iX will start at 77,300 euros ($91,960) in Germany, a similar price to the X5, BMW said. Both models will join the electric Mini, BMW i3 city car and the iX3 SUV that are already on sale. Full-electric versions of the BMW 5 Series and the X1 will follow, together with electric versions of the 7 Series and the successor to the Mini Countryman. The last Mini with a combustion-engine variant will be released in 2025. The automaker's Rolls-Royce brand will get full-electric models, BMW said. "We have a clear road map for making the transformation of our industry a real competitive advantage for BMW in the coming years," CEO Oliver Zipse said in a statement. "We have started the new year with strong momentum and are aiming to return to pre-crisis levels as swiftly as possible," he said.Deliveries of full-electric models will grow by more than 50 percent annually on average by 2025, more than ten times the figure for 2020, BMW said. By the end of 2025, the company expects to have delivered about 2 million full-electric vehicles to customers, rising to 10 million by 2030 for at least half of global deliveries. BMW previously said it expects 20 percent of sales to be battery or plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2023.The company will have at least one full-electric model on the road in 90 percent of its current market segments by 2023. "We are consciously adopting a broad approach with our all-electric offering rather than staying niche," Zipse said.BMW will introduce an electric-focused platform and software underpinnings in 2025 for a new set of vehicles called New Class (Neue Klasse in German), reminiscent of a range of models made in the 1960s. The cars will be built to recycle as much material as possible for use in new vehicles, and boost revenues from customers booking digital features, BMW said. "We are intent on ensuring that the 'greenest' electric car on the market is made by BMW," Zipse said. The platform will deliver returns on par with combustion-engine models. BMW said it not looking to partner with other manufacturers to improve economies of scale. BMW said it expects its automotive business to record a solid year-on-year increase in deliveries, with the segment's EBIT margin expected to rise to between 6 percent and 8 percent. The forecast compares with 2.7 percent last year. BMW has come through the coronavirus pandemic better than expected and so far has avoided a global semiconductor shortage. Its shares have still trailed gains achieved by rivals with ambitious EV targets. Volkswagen sees 1 million EV and plug-in hybrid sales this year, and its namesake brand this month doubled a goal for EV sales in Europe to a 70 percent share by the end of the decade. Volvo said this month its lineup would be fully electric by 2030, and Ford said in February its passenger-car lineup in Europe would also be all-electric. Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report