BMW Stock Teeters at Year’s Low as 60% EV Order Surge Clashes With Tariff Headwinds

BMW shares hit 4.6% above yearly low after breaching €75 support, even as EV orders jump 60% and free cash flow rises. New CEO faces tariff margin squeeze and Leapmotor threat.

BMW’s shares ended Friday at €74.78, leaving the stock just 4.6% above its 2025 nadir of €71.50. The 2.43% daily loss extended a weekly rout of 8.56% — a sell-off that accelerated after the stock breached the psychologically important €75 threshold. The price now sits 6.68% below its 50-day moving average of €80.13, and the year-to-date decline stands at 22.04%.

Yet beneath the bearish chart lies a curious disconnect: BMW’s electric-vehicle orders in Europe surged 60% in the first quarter, and the group’s free cash flow jumped to €777 million. The contradiction has left analysts questioning whether the market is overcorrecting.

Leadership Change Meets Margin Squeeze

Oliver Zipse stepped down on May 13 after 35 years at the company, handing the reins to Milan Nedeljkovi?. The handover comes at a delicate juncture. BMW’s first-quarter global deliveries slipped 3.5%, with China the main drag. Europe provided some relief, where sales edged higher and the EV order book bulged.

The profitability picture, however, is clouded by trade frictions. Tariffs cost the automotive segment roughly 1.25 percentage points of margin, pushing the EBIT margin to exactly 5.0% — the lower end of management’s target corridor. Nedeljkovi? will need to navigate both the tariff drag and the intensifying price war in China.

Leapmotor Looms Over the Core Market

The competitive pressure is not just coming from China’s domestic market. Leapmotor, the electric-vehicle upstart backed by Stellantis, plans to sell more than one million vehicles globally by 2026. Crucially, it will begin producing models at a plant in Saragossa, Spain, from that same year. Stellantis holds 51% of Leapmotor International, giving the Chinese brand a European manufacturing foothold.

With entry-level models expected to start at around €17,000, Leapmotor directly threatens the volume end of the segment where BMW has invested heavily in electrification. The German automaker’s own “Neue Klasse” platform is supposed to be its answer, but the rollout remains a future catalyst.

Capital Simplification and a Dividend Day

Alongside the operational challenges, BMW is tidying up its capital structure. Shareholders approved the conversion of all non-voting preference shares into ordinary shares, eliminating the former dividend preference in exchange for greater transparency.

For the past financial year, ordinary shareholders will receive a slightly higher dividend of €4.40 per share, payable on Tuesday. That payment provides some yield support, but it has not been enough to arrest the stock’s slide amid tariff uncertainty and Chinese competition.

Technical Test Ahead

Monday will serve as an early test for the new CEO. A swift recovery above €75 would limit the chart damage. If the stock stays below that line, the lows of last summer will come into focus again. Nedeljkovi? must convince the market that margins can hold, the EV shift is accelerating in the right markets, and the Chinese offensive can be absorbed — all while a single percentage point of tariff-related margin erosion already weighs on the bottom line.