Berlin: BMW is betting on its long-awaited Neue Klasse electric cars to revive its fortunes in China after two years of declining sales. The problem for the German automaker is that China's EV race may have already moved on without it. BMW, under new CEO Milan Nedeljkovic, issued a shock profit warning last month that it partly blamed on China - its third in less than three years. On Friday, it said China sales plunged 30% in the second quarter.
Some shareholders and analysts say BMW has moved too slowly to bring its long-trailed Neue Klasse, or "new class," EVs to a market where Chinese rivals are developing increasingly sophisticated electric cars in as little as 18 months - roughly twice as fast as traditional automakers.
