BMW Deploys Humanoid Robots and a ÂŁ53,000 i3 as China Sales Crash 30%
Published on 07/12/2026 at 22:02 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
BMW's second-quarter numbers laid bare a tale of two worlds. Sales in China, its single most important market, plunged by 30.2 percent, dragging global deliveries down by 4.9 percent to 590,962 vehicles across the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. Yet in Europe and the United States, the picture was strikingly different — registrations rose 7.6 percent in Europe and 11.9 percent in America. The divergent trends have left the stock pinned near its 52-week low, closing Friday at €58.28, a hair above the trough of €57.06 touched on 30 June 2026.
The core BMW brand bore the brunt of the China collapse, with sales falling 7.7 percent to 508,675 units. One bright spot came from the electric segment: deliveries of battery-electric models surged 38 percent to 81,445 vehicles, driven by the launch of the new iX3. The model resonated particularly well in Europe, offering a rare counterweight to the mounting losses in the world’s largest auto market.
On 10 July, the same day it released the sales figures, BMW held a pre-close call with investors. Management fielded questions on pricing strategy in China and the progress of ongoing cost-saving programmes but offered few concrete answers. The full first-half earnings report is due on 30 July, and the market remains in wait-and-see mode. Analyst opinions are split: JPMorgan reaffirmed an "Overweight" rating with a €82 price target, while RBC kept its "Sector Perform" call but nudged its target up to €84 — both far above the current share price.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying BMW?
The stock’s technical picture reflects the prolonged pressure. The 50-day moving average sits at €69.12 and the 200-day at €82.03, meaning the shares trade nearly 29 percent below their long-term trend. The RSI of 31.1 signals an oversold condition, while the 30-day annualised volatility has climbed to 31.44 percent. Year to date, BMW has lost 39.24 percent of its value, and its market capitalisation has shrunk to €35.38 billion.
While rivals such as Volkswagen debate plant closures and job cuts, BMW is doubling down on automation. At its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, the company has begun deploying Figure 03, a humanoid robot equipped with tactile sensors, palm-mounted cameras and wireless charging. Its predecessor, Figure 02, had already helped produce more than 30,000 units of the X3 over ten months. Figure 03 will handle logistics tasks, freeing up human workers — a move that fits into the broader industry push for efficiency. The cameras offer a 60 percent larger field of view, double the frame rate and a 75 percent reduction in latency.
BMW is also pressing ahead with new models despite the weak demand backdrop. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, it unveiled the electric i3 First Edition, a battery-powered version of the 3 Series saloon. The standard model starts at £53,005, while the i3 50 xDrive variant begins at £57,905. Orders have been open since mid-June, with deliveries slated for autumn 2026 and production at the Munich plant kicking off in August. Looking further ahead, the next-generation M3 is planned for a dual powertrain approach: a fully electric version (codenamed ZA0) with four motors, an 800-volt architecture and a battery exceeding 100 kilowatt-hours — targeting around 1,000 horsepower — is expected in 2027, while a petrol variant (G84) with a revamped inline-six and hybrid assistance should follow around 2028. Both will be priced similarly, and a new "Heart of Joy" chassis control system is set to replace the traditional mechanical limited-slip differential.
Whether these investments — in robots and electric successors — can lift the stock from the vicinity of its annual low depends largely on how the China situation evolves. The broader German auto industry remains under pressure, with rising oil prices tied to Middle East tensions adding another headwind. For now, BMW’s message is that it is betting on technology to weather the storm, even as the numbers from Shanghai tell a more sobering story.
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