The BMW Group published preliminary sales figures for the past year this week. Our focus so far has been on the core brand and its record-breaking M division. If you’re wondering how the other subsidiaries fared in 2025, the picture is mixed. MINI has seen a huge increase in deliveries over the last 12 months, while Rolls-Royce has seen a slight decline.
Even though MINI sales increased by 17.7% to 288,290 units, this figure is still far from the brand’s all-time high. In 2017, the Oxford-based brand delivered 372,194 vehicles to customers worldwide. Whether BMW’s British arm can match these numbers again in the coming years remains to be seen.
The discontinuation of the electric Cooper and Aceman models in the USA will certainly have a negative impact on sales to some extent. In 2025, about a third of all MINIs sold worldwide were fully electric, showing that the US is missing two important electric vehicles. This is particularly notable considering that the BMW iX1 and iX2 are also forbidden fruit in the US.
2025 was a mediocre year for Rolls-Royce. Deliveries fell by 0.8% to 5,664 vehicles. Unsurprisingly, the Cullinan remained the brand’s best-selling model. Even more unexpectedly, the all-electric Specter coupe came in second place, ahead of the Ghost. Looking back, Rolls-Royce’s strongest year was 2023, when one percenters bought 6,032 luxury ships.
Of course, Rolls-Royce isn’t about volume. The brand relies on profit margins that are far higher than any BMW or MINI currently available. Despite the slight decline in sales, 2025 is likely to have been a profitable year as demand for special orders doubled compared to the previous year. Highly customized vehicles fetch higher prices, so Rolls-Royce has little reason to worry even with smaller quantities.
Looking forward, it will be interesting to see whether the BMW Group will report ALPINA sales separately. The rights to the brand name were acquired in 2022, but the first model of the new era will not be presented until later this year. Based on the facelifted 7 Series, it’s not expected to hit the market until 2027. But there’s more to come, as the second-generation X7 will also get the ALPINA treatment. Both the sedan and SUV are expected to offer a mix of gasoline engines and electric powertrains.
The two ALPINA models are intended to close the gap between the 7 Series and the X7 on the one hand and the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Cullinan on the other. With the independent brand, BMW wants to compete with Mercedes-Maybach and offer fully equipped versions of its flagship models, peppered with an unmistakable portion of ALPINA magic.
