Do we like them?

Do we like BMW?

Premium cars (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce) and motorbikes, based in Munich, Germany

Our score: 6 out of 10. Mixed. Real climate targets and an electric push, but a record of cartel and competition fines and a forced-labour parts report. We'd back them cautiously, not warmly.

BMW is Munich's luxury carmaker, and it's still largely a family affair. Siblings Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten hold roughly 45% of the voting shares between them. The shares are listed, but the Quandts have the say. A disclosure from mid-2026 puts them at about 25% and 20%.

The top job changed hands in May 2026. Oliver Zipse, a 35-year BMW man, stepped down after nearly seven years as CEO. Milan Nedeljković took over. He joined as a trainee in 1993 and ran production. His contract runs to 2031, and he starts as a flood of new models arrives.

The dirt: in 2021 the European Commission fined BMW €372.8m for colluding with VW and Daimler over diesel clean-up tech. BMW stressed that the case was about competition law, not cheating on tests. The UK's CMA also fined it over £10m in a separate collusion case on advertising and recycling.

On the bright side, BMW's own 2025 report says its European fleet emissions beat the legal requirements. It also built a new 2035 target on top of its 2030 one, and its Hungarian plant makes the new iX3 on renewable energy. We'd say a decent but not spotless 6.