BMW M’s Success in 2025
The BMW M division continues to deliver impressive results, despite some challenges at the end of the year and ongoing discussions about car design. Buyers seem to prioritize the performance and qualities of the cars over online debates. 2025 marked the 14th consecutive year of record sales for M models, confirming the strength of this brand.
Total BMW M sales in 2025 amounted to 213,457 cars, which is 3.3% more than the previous year. The company did not disclose a full model breakdown but confirmed that nearly 71,500 of them were full-fledged M cars, such as the M2, M3, M4, and M5. The remaining 141,957 were M Performance models, for example, the M340i and i4 M60.
Sales Leaders
Among the high-performance M models, the M2 showed the highest sales. However, considering the entire BMW M GmbH portfolio, the absolute leader was the X3 M50 crossover, which overtook the electric i4 M50 that led in 2024.
The victory of the X3 M50 comes despite constant criticism of its styling and, more importantly, BMW’s cost-cutting on interior materials — which seems odd for an SUV that starts at $66,500 in the US. However, sales figures indicate that real buyers, who sign checks rather than comment on forums, do not support these complaints with their wallets.
It is worth noting that at the end of the year, BMW M still faced difficulties: sales in the fourth quarter of 2025 fell by 7.9%.
Geography of Popularity
Despite this, M models accounted for 9.8% of BMW’s total global sales last year. The US topped the ranking with over 72,000 M cars sold, becoming the largest market for the division.
Other strong markets were Canada, Germany, South Korea, South Africa, the UK, and China. Interestingly, in Switzerland, despite the small market size, one in every four BMWs sold was an M car, which is an extremely high concentration.
BMW Group Total Sales in 2025
BMW M boss Franciscus van Meel noted:
Our 14th consecutive sales record confirms the correctness of our strategy. We will continue to offer performance and high-performance cars across the entire BMW model range — with fully electric, hybrid, and traditional internal combustion engines.
As for the BMW brand as a whole, in 2025 it sold 2,463,715 cars, a slight increase of 0.5% compared to 2024. Sales of electrified vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and fully electric models, grew to 642,087 units, which is 8.3% more. Fully electric BMWs accounted for 442,072 of them, increasing by 3.6%.
However, the fourth quarter was weaker. Sales of fully electric cars fell by 10.5% in the last three months of the year. This was likely influenced by changing market conditions, especially in the US, where federal tax incentives for electric vehicles were reduced at the end of September.
Regional Specifics
Sales in many of BMW’s key markets grew significantly in 2025. For example, in Germany they increased by 8.7%, and in Europe as a whole by 7.3%. Sales also grew by 5.7% in the Americas, including a 5% increase in the US. However, in Asia, things did not go as well: total sales fell by 9.3%, and in China by as much as 12.5%.
Interestingly, the success of specific models, such as the often-criticized X3 M50, points to a deeper trend: purchase decisions in the premium segment are often based on technical characteristics, brand heritage, and emotional appeal, rather than design alone. The growth in M model sales against the backdrop of the brand’s overall modest growth indicates that this very division is becoming an increasingly important driver of BMW’s business. At the same time, the dynamics in different regions, particularly the decline in China and growth in Europe and the US, show how macroeconomic factors and regulatory changes can quickly impact the market performance of even a resilient manufacturer.