BMW Motorrad: profit but also loss in 2023

In 2023, BMW Motorrad sold a record 209,066 motorcycles, generating sales of €3.2 billion, according to financial offer BMW Group last Thursday. In terms of numbers, this means a growth of 3%, while trading value increased by 1.2%. The German brand's motorcycle profits rose 1.2% from 257 million to 259 million, putting its EBIT margin at 8.1%. Great numbers, but in the last quarter of last year things were not going well for the German motorcycle manufacturer.

Less income

For the fourth quarter of 2023, BMW Motorrad announced the delivery of 44,349 motorcycles, an increase of 1.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. It is worth noting that the sales volume in 2023 in the fourth quarter reached 643 million, compared to 691 million in 2023. It can only lead to one result: more motorcycles were sold for less money in Q4 2023 than in Q4 2022, which could be due to cheaper models being available or discounts being offered, or a combination of the two together.

Huge losses in the fourth quarter

Another striking phenomenon occurs here, which is that BMW Motorrad suffers significant losses in the fourth quarter, in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, that number reached 49 million, which is actually better than the 65 million in the same quarter of 2022. This makes it all the more impressive that all the headline numbers for the full year were positive, because this had to be done in three quarters, and also Compensation for the losses of the last quarter.

No further clarification of these figures was provided in the BMW Group's annual accounts and the accompanying letter from BWM CEO Oliver Zepps (pictured).