High demand: BMW produces the iX3 in two shifts

BMW has already switched production of the all-electric BMW iX3 at its Debrecen plant in Hungary to two-shift operation due to high demand. This was confirmed by the automaker in its announcement regarding its business figures for 2025.

The move comes as no surprise, as the Munich-based manufacturer had repeatedly highlighted the strong order intake for the first model of the Neue Klasse. Additionally, BMW’s Sales Director Jochen Goller had already announced the introduction of two-shift operations in Debrecen at the end of January.

“Since its world premiere at the International Motor Show (IAA) in September 2025, the fully-electric BMW iX3 has seen extremely strong demand,” BMW stated in its 2025 financial results announcement.

“With the successful launch of the Neue Klasse, we demonstrated in 2025 that we are leading the BMW brand into the future, with new technology clusters and a fresh design language. The extraordinarily high demand for the first model, the BMW iX3, proves that pioneering spirit, innovation and courage deliver results,” said BMW CEO Oliver Zipse. “Our order books for the iX3 are full and reach well into this year. We are exploiting the flexibility of our production and supplier network and increasing capacity in line with demand.”

As Zipse, who will hand over the chairmanship of the Board of Management to Milan Nedeljković after the Annual General Meeting in May, further explained, demand from both private and fleet customers has exceeded expectations. “We are also attracting many new customers who have never driven a BMW before,” Zipse said of the new electric SUV.

The BMW iX3 was unveiled in September, with series production commencing in October at BMW’s new plant in Debrecen, Hungary. The first units of the iX3 were delivered to customers and celebrities in January, with the dealer launch following in early March. The iX3 produced in Hungary will be succeeded by the new i3, a battery-electric saloon in the 3 Series segment. The model built at the Munich plant will celebrate its design premiere next week, with the transition from pre-series to series production of the i3 planned for the second half of 2026.

In the 2025 financial year, BMW achieved a pre-tax group result of over ten billion euros, with the group profit remaining at over seven billion euros, matching the previous year. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 7.7 per cent—identical to 2024—’despite higher tariff headwinds, as BMW emphasised. Revenue, however, amounted to 133.45 billion euros, representing a 6.3 per cent decline compared to the previous year (currency-adjusted: -3.9 per cent, according to BMW).

“This reflects the intense competition in the automotive sector, particularly in China. Furthermore, negative currency translation effects, primarily from the US dollar, Korean won and Chinese renminbi, also had an impact,” BMW stated.

Regarding the market launch of the pivotal Neue Klasse, research and development expenditures are also noteworthy. BMW surpassed the previous year’s peak of nearly 9.1 billion euros, investing 8.32 billion euros—though the prior year had included particularly high expenses for developing the new platform.

“Expenditure for research and development is largely focused on digitalisation and electrification of the vehicle fleet across all model series,” the company explained. “It also includes spending for the development of Neue Klasse models, such as the BMW iX3* and the successor models to the BMW X5 and BMW 7 Series.”

bmwgroup.com (Announcement), bmwgroup.com (Zipse’s Speech)