BMW Sees More Lockdowns in China In 2023

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMWYY sees more Covid-related lockdowns in China as a risk for next year, despite healthy demand for the carmaker's fully-electric models and expectations of stable global sales, Bloomberg reports.
CEO Oliver Zipse said, "I am worried about how we get out of the lockdown situation in future quarters. There is no visibility that China has a solution."
Demand for BMW's fully-electric models in China is still strong, Zipse said, and next year's introduction of battery-only Mini models and the i5 should also help boost sales.
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Western vehicle manufacturers, including Tesla, Inc TSLA and Mercedes-Benz Group AG ADR DMLRY, saw stricter competition from local competitors in China, the world's largest car market.
Next year's global sales for BMW should be at the same level as this year, Zipse indicated. "I would give a stable outlook," he said when asked for guidance.
BMW forecasts deliveries to be slightly below last year's 2.5 million vehicles.
At the beginning of November, the company saw demand normalizing from pent-up levels, especially in Europe.
Tata Motors Ltd TTM Jaguar Land Rover cut vehicle output in the U.K. through March on semiconductor shortages, and Volkswagen AG VWAGY cut its sales projection for this year on supply chain constraints.
Price Action: BMWYY shares traded at $29.24 in the premarket on the last check Monday.