Germany’s Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday that BMW and the European Fee are in energetic negotiations over a minimal pricing mannequin that might substitute the present EU tariffs on the German carmaker’s Chinese language-manufactured MINI electrical automobiles. In line with two folks accustomed to the matter cited by the enterprise every day, BMW and Brussels are working towards a value enterprise deal — a confidential minimal import value that the carmaker would commit to not fall beneath when promoting the automobiles in Europe. Each BMW and the Fee declined to touch upon the report.
The 2 fashions on the middle of the talks are the electrical MINI Cooper and the electrical Aceman, each produced on the Highlight Automotive plant in Zhangjiagang, China — a 50-50 three way partnership between BMW Group and Nice Wall Motor. The EU imposed a 20.7% countervailing responsibility on these automobiles in October 2024, following an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese language-made EVs. Stacked on high of the usual 10% EU auto import tariff, that places a mixed ~31% responsibility burden on each Mini EV shipped from China to Europe.
Following VW’s Lead
The blueprint for BMW’s strategy was set by Volkswagen simply two weeks in the past. On February 11, 2026, the EU granted SEAT/Cupra’s all-electric Tavascan SUV — additionally made in China, by VW’s Anhui three way partnership — a full exemption from the countervailing responsibility, making it the primary China-made EV to safe particular person reduction from the October 2024 tariffs. Underneath that deal, Cupra dedicated to a confidential minimal import value and an annual quantity cap, whereas VW pledged funding in EV-related initiatives contained in the EU. The Tavascan now faces solely the usual 10% EU responsibility fairly than the mixed ~31% burden.
BMW is in search of the identical remedy for its MINI EVs. The corporate can also be individually difficult the tariffs by authorized proceedings alongside different automakers, maintaining each diplomatic and judicial avenues open.
A Tough Yr in China
The tariff negotiations are unfolding towards a backdrop of mounting stress in BMW’s most necessary market. In 2025, BMW Group delivered 625,527 BMW and MINI automobiles in China — a big drop from the 714,500 items delivered in 2024, which itself had fallen 13.4% from the 12 months earlier than.
China stays BMW’s single largest market globally, however it was the one main area the place deliveries declined in 2025. The perpetrator is effectively understood: aggressively priced EVs and extended-range automobiles from Chinese language manufacturers like BYD, XPeng, and Li Auto steadily pushing into the premium section.
BMW has introduced plans to restructure its vendor community in response, closing underperforming retailers and changing some to service-only facilities by mid-2026. There are shiny spots — BMW M gross sales rose 27.9% in China in 2025, crossing 10,000 items for the primary time — however the broader quantity development is one the corporate is working onerous to reverse.
Wanting forward, BMW plans to carry round 20 new merchandise to China in 2026, headlined by the primary Neue Klasse fashions, which symbolize a ground-up reimagining of the model’s EV structure.
New Management in China
BMW additionally not too long ago introduced a management change in China. Christian Ach will turn into President and CEO of BMW Group Area China on April 1, 2026, stepping in from his position as CEO of BMW Germany. In that place, Ach led BMW to reclaim market management over Mercedes-Benz and Audi in its dwelling nation, and he beforehand spent practically eight years working MINI Germany — making his deep familiarity with the MINI model and its European buyer base notably related at this second.
