Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Presentation] Welcome to the world premiere of 3 new models: the BMW 5 Series Sedan, the BMW 5 Series Touring and the BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo, here at the BMW Welt in Munich. And now, here is Pieter Nota, Board Member for Customer, Brands and Sales.

Hello, everyone. The BMW 5 Series is the most successful business sedan in the world. For nearly 50 years, the 5 Series has enjoyed unrivaled global success because it's always been state of the art and led the way. The world is constantly evolving. Business is changing. Leadership is changing. Today, there is a new generation of leaders, and they have different needs and desires. Just think of digitalization and climate protection. Leaders need strong partners in this fast-changing world. This is what the BMW 5 Series is all about. This is the new BMW 5 Series. We've made it even better with a more luxurious interior and leading-edge connectivity, all underpinned by a completely updated front and rear design. Our Head of BMW Design, Domagoj Dukec will tell you more about that soon. Looking at drivetrains, more and more of our 5 Series customers want to drive electric especially in urban areas. That's why the 5 will offer the widest range of plug-in hybrids in the BMW portfolio. Plug-in hybrids deliver a very real and positive contribution to lowering emissions. Initially, there will be 2 plug-in hybrid models available upon launch of the 5, and we will be adding 3 more in November. With the exception of the high-performance model M550i, all combustion engine models will feature mild hybrid technology, leading to CO2 reductions of up to 9 grams per kilometer. And I can tell you, all model variants will meet the Euro 6d emission standard. All of this means more sheer driving pleasure with fewer emissions. Our customers expect nothing less. For many of our customers, the 5 is their business partner when they are on the road. It provides support as a personal mobile office as well as offering a sphere of privacy. And of course, it features the very latest innovations in driver assistance, vehicle interaction and connectivity. More on that shortly. But first, let's go to the BMW Group Classic, where Domagoj will give you further details on the new and modern design of the 5.

Ladies and gentlemen, hello, and welcome to BMW. The 5, the new BMW 5 Series Sedan and Touring. This is the redesigned seventh generation of our business athlete. By new and striking design features as well as a new selection of BMW individual exterior colors, we are giving this model a stronger and more modern character, in short, more presence, more expression and, hence, clearly more modern. To achieve this, we redesigned the entire front appearance of the 5. The new double kidney is now wider and more distinctive with the way sharper contour. Definitely, a highlight of the 5 had a brand-new BMW Laserlight headlights that give the car a more focused and yet more contemporary look. As we believe in the different individual characters of our customers, we want to offer the 5 in 2 flavors as well. The 5 Series Sedan over here shows the plug-in hybrid version with our M Sport package. It has been completely redesigned to emphasize the rather expressive character of the 5. At the same time, it is strongly differentiating from the base model with its elegant and luxury flare. The car's profile is keeping its luxurious and yet dynamic appearance with precise lines and clear surfaces. Distinct wheel arches framed the newly designed 20-inch BMW individual rims. The real eye-catcher definitely is the brand-new light graphic. The classic L shape of the tail-lights is executed in a bold and modern way while it emerges from the body in a 3-dimensional form. Blackened areas built a strong contrast, emphasizing the graphical high-tech look. The new rear apron of the M Sport package with the generous surfaces and structuring sharp lines refers to the confident and expressive front of the 5. Integrated within the diffuser, we are now offering free-form exhaust pipes as standard equipment for every model. Of course, we have also applied these design highlights to our 5 Series Touring. This model right next to me shows our Luxury Line. It clearly differentiates from the M Sport package. The front bumper is distinguished by clear net of surfaces and prominent details like the framed vertical air intakes towards the side. Another highlight of the 5 Series, I am especially proud of, are the 20-inch Air Performance Wheels, not only standing out in extraordinary design, but lightweight and aero efficient at the same time. The base of the rim is an alloy lightweight structure with additional inserts that can be customized, on this specific 5 Series, featured as an elegant BMW individual trim. The elegant aesthetic of the rear apron is underlined through a horizontal galvanized accent trim. Analog to the 5 Series Sedan, the rear also features our new 3D LED tail-lights. The modern but yet look-serious interior still convinces with clean surfaces and, of course, high-quality materials, especially for a comfortable traveling experience. The fully digital instrument cluster with the bigger new Control Display offers now an even better UI experience. Ladies and gentlemen, the 5 stands as always for presence, dynamic and modernity. Stay with us for more insights into the digital world of the new 5 Series from Peter Henrich. Thank you.

Many thanks, Domagoj. The business athlete, as we call the new BMW 5 Series, comes with a wide range of digital services. For example, the Intelligent Personal Assistant, which we've upgraded again, the driver can talk to the assistant totally naturally and use him to operate many functions. The BMW 5 Series will also come with a new generation of our high-tech navigation system. I'll come back to that in a minute. And we are also keen to assist our customers with parking. With a connected parking function in the new 5 Series, we have brought together new and existing services. For example, the driver can see free spaces in a carpark or by the side of the road. Friends and guests, electrification and digitalization are core element of the BMW product strategy, and we've been pioneers in both of these high-tech fields for a long time now. We already started with connectivity 21 years ago when we first launched BMW Connected Drive. Today, there are around 14 million connected cars of the BMW Group on the roads worldwide. And we continuously develop our digital offerings to create functionalities that offer information, convenience and, very important for us at BMW, joyful experiences. The 5 Series now also runs on BMW Operating System 7. It's a unique design and user experience. This operating system also provides the digital basis for the latest technologies such as remote software upgrade. This technology allows us to keep our vehicles up-to-date at all times and offer new services to our customers directly over the air. When it comes to electrification, we currently have 13 electric vehicle models in a total of 74 markets around the world. That's more than any other new or established premium manufacturer. The plug-in hybrid version of the new BMW 5 Series brings together both electric mobility and digital. And that's even beyond the car itself. With the new BMW eDrive Zones, we are using intelligent technology to further improve quality of life in urban areas. How does it work? Well, the connected plug-in hybrid 5 Series senses when it's entering a BMW eDrive Zone and automatically switches the car to the all-electric driving mode. The BMW Group is playing an important role in supporting sustainability on the roads, both by continuously expanding its range of vehicles with electrified drive systems and through the ongoing development of BMW eDrive technology. BMW eDrive Zones are now helping to maximize the potential of plug-in hybrid BMWs to reduce emissions on urban roads. The benefits can already be experienced in a large number of German and European cities, which means BMW plug-in hybrid models will spend more time in electric mode in a growing number of urban areas. Another highlight of the new BMW 5 Series is our new generation of navigation called BMW Maps. It will provide our customers with even more precise and intuitive assistance when it comes to urban and personal mobility. Our navigation tech has for years been one of our key multi-award winning products. This because we combine intelligent route guidance with additional information such as traffic or points of interest and, especially important for in-car operation, a deep integration into our BMW HMI, the Human Machine Interface. But there is digital competition out there with pretty strong smartphone apps, for example. We take on the challenge. With BMW Maps, we are introducing cloud-based navigation in the new 5 Series. This will allow us to offer customers the best system in the premium segment. BMW Maps assists our customers before their journey, during it and once they reach the destination. It functions, link seamlessly via various touchpoints. The driver can, for example, send the destination address to the car via the BMW Connected app from outside the car. So when they get in, everything is ready to go. All the information is shown on the central screen that has been further enlarged and the Head-Up Display. And the system is easy to use, for example, via voice control or the touch screen or the iDrive controller. And we've also improved the systems performance, superfast route calculation in under a second and very precise expected time of arrival, detailed information on points of interest, complete with ratings, opening times, pictures and more information. So really a big step, and I hope you'll soon find out about the strength of BMW Maps in a test drive. But still, we also want to offer our customers a seamless experience in connecting their personal smartphones not only for making phone calls but also using other digital functions. The new BMW 5 Series is one of the first cars to get a wireless integration of Android Auto. Android Auto is a safe and easy way to use Android smartphone functions during a journey, whether that's music, messaging or Google Assistant. All functions are integrated directly into the car's fully digital screen system. For example, one new feature is the display of smartphone navigation apps in the instrument cluster and the Head-Up Display. This provides a safe way of using apps during a journey. The support for Apple CarPlay rounds off the offering for our customers. We've had the best wireless technical solution on the market for years of Apple CarPlay and improve this integration even further now. Those are just a few of the highlight features which make the new BMW 5 Series a digital flagship. And on that note, I'd like to hand back to Pieter Nota.

Once again, the 5 leads the way. It raises the benchmark in terms of design, efficiency, driving dynamics and digitalization. It's younger, smarter and more sustainable. It's truly the next-generation business car. And it's set to continue its leadership as the most successful business sedan worldwide. Now the 5 series is not the only highlight we have for you today. The 6 Series GT is also new and benefits for most of the innovation we've spoken about. So now please enjoy the ground tour. [Presentation]

Thank you for joining us for the world premiere of the new BMW 5 Series and the new BMW 6 Series.