BMW Tops 100,000 US Sales In Q3 As Plug-In Hybrids Jump 23%, But EVs And MINI Lose Ground

BMW sold 100,210 vehicles in the United States during the third quarter of 2026, a 3.4% increase over the 96,886 units it moved in the same period last year. The more telling numbers sit lower in BMW of North America’s report: plug-in hybrid sales climbed 23.2%, yet electrified sales as a whole fell 24.9% because fewer people bought fully electric BMWs.

Through the first nine months of the year, the BMW brand stands at 287,154 vehicles, up 4.3% compared with the same period of 2025. MINI went the other way, with third-quarter sales down 10.2%. Combined, the two brands sold 106,741 vehicles in the quarter, roughly 2.5% more than a year ago. The report covers only BMW and MINI, so Rolls-Royce isn’t part of these figures.

SUVs Are Doing The Heavy Lifting For BMW In 2026

Cars and SUVs grew at a similar pace in the third quarter. BMW sold 43,622 passenger cars, up 3.8%, and 56,588 light trucks (the industry’s label for SUVs and crossovers), up 3.2%. The year-to-date picture is far more lopsided. Light truck sales are up 8.4% to 159,845 units, while passenger car sales slipped 0.4% to 127,309. BMW has sold 11,769 more vehicles than it had at this point in 2025, and its SUVs account for all of that growth and then some, with sales up by 12,325 units while the cars are down by 556.

That leaves SUVs with nearly 56% of BMW’s US volume this year. The best chance of getting the car side growing again arrives early next year, in the shape of two new sedans.

Why Did BMW’s Electrified Sales Fall Nearly 25% In Q3?

BMW’s plug-in hybrids had a strong quarter, with sales up 23.2% compared with Q3 2025 and up 11.7% for the year so far. Total electrified sales, which combine PHEVs and battery electric vehicles, still dropped 24.9%. BMW didn’t publish separate EV figures, but for the combined number to fall that far while plug-in hybrids grew by almost a quarter, sales of its electric models must have dropped by considerably more than 25%.

BMW blamed “current market conditions” and a planned model changeover, without saying which model it meant. The market conditions part needs little decoding. The $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs expired on September 30, 2025, and buyers rushed to beat the deadline, pushing US electric car sales to a record in the third quarter of last year. BMW’s EV sales this summer are being measured against that rush.

Help only arrived late in the quarter, as preorder deliveries of the Neue Klasse iX3 and the updated i7 began counting toward BMW’s EV total. Dealers only started delivering the iX3 50 xDrive on September 16, nine days ahead of the original date, so the electric SUV contributed about two weeks of sales to the quarter.

MINI’s US Sales Decline Got Worse In The Third Quarter

MINI sold 6,531 cars in the US during Q3, down from 7,270 a year earlier. Through September, MINI is at 20,248 units, a 7.4% drop compared with the first nine months of 2025. Working backward from those figures, MINI sold 13,717 cars in the first half of 2026, a 6.0% decline. BMW sold roughly 15 vehicles for every MINI in the third quarter.

When Do The New 3 Series And i3 Reach US Dealers?

“Response to the Neue Klasse has been very encouraging, and with even more new models arriving in the months ahead, we are confident we can carry this momentum through the end of the year and into 2027,” said Sebastian Mackensen, President and CEO of BMW of North America.

The most important of those new models are the two BMW revealed earlier this week: the eighth-generation G50 3 Series and the electric i3, the second Neue Klasse model after the iX3. Both arrive at US dealers in the first quarter of 2027, and BMW of North America has already priced them. The gasoline cars also drop the “i” from their badges, so the 330i becomes simply the 330:

• 2027 BMW 330: $49,900
• 2027 BMW 330 xDrive: $51,900
• 2027 BMW M350 xDrive: $65,900
• 2027 BMW i3 50 xDrive: $61,500

All prices exclude the $1,350 destination charge. BMW frames the side-by-side launch as its “technology-open” strategy, letting buyers pick between combustion and electric power in the same showroom. The pricing makes that choice more interesting than usual: the 463-hp i3 50 xDrive costs $4,400 less than the 437-hp M350 xDrive, which will make the i3 a useful test of whether Americans will buy an electric BMW sedan without a tax credit.

What To Expect From BMW’s US Sales In The Fourth Quarter

Q4 will be the first full quarter with the iX3 in showrooms and the updated i7 on sale. BMW’s electrified numbers should also face a much easier comparison, since the fourth quarter of 2025 was the first period without the federal EV credit.

Until the new 3 Series and i3 arrive, BMW’s US growth rests on its SUVs and plug-in hybrids, which have carried the brand through a challenging year in the automotive industry.