After the intensive financial reports released by German car companies last week, the 2022 financial reports of Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Audi (BBA) have all been released, with profitability, transformation, and electrification becoming their common keywords.

　　In the past year, despite various challenges such as geopolitical, macroeconomic, pandemic, and semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks, BBA has achieved strong performance and maintained profitability while undergoing the largest transformation in history. It can't help but sigh at the powerful brand and operation management capabilities exhibited by a century old automotive brand in the face of historical changes.

　　Compared to the main financial indicators of the BBA automotive sector, BMW continued to lead in sales and revenue in 2022, while Mercedes maintained a significant lead in EBIT and sales margin. Although there is a significant gap between Audi and the two "German compatriots" in terms of sales volume, revenue, and EBIT, its sales profit margin is outstanding, surpassing BMW, and only 2.4 percentage points from Mercedes.

　　In this regard, Audi attributed it to sustained and effective crisis management, good price positioning, and strong performance of its Bentley and other brands. On January 1st last year, Bentley was officially incorporated into Audi, bringing about synergy. Interestingly, BMW also consolidated with BMW Brilliance last year, while Mercedes ushered in the first full fiscal year after the division of Daimler's truck business, which has made a significant contribution to BBA's financial results.

　　Strong performance has brought sufficient cash flow to BBA. Among them, the free cash flow of BMW's automotive business increased 74.2% year-on-year, reaching 11 billion euros; Benz's pre interest and tax cash flow reached 10.718 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 15%; Audi's net cash flow reached 4.808 billion euros.

　　Thanks to this, the pace of BBA's electrification and digital transformation continues to accelerate. Last year, the delivery volume of Audi pure electric vehicles reached 118196, an increase of about 44% year-on-year; Its global share of electric vehicles also rose to 7.2% from 4.8% in 2021. Meanwhile, Audi's first PPE platform model, the Q6 e-tron, will be unveiled in the second half of this year. The new car will initially be imported into the Chinese market, and then will be put into production at the new Audi FAW factory.

　　Audi stated that it is accelerating its transformation to a high-end sustainable travel leader with intelligent connectivity: from 2023 to 2027, two-thirds of the company's spending will be invested in the future electrification and digital fields, reaching approximately 28 billion euros.

　　Last year, Mercedes Benz's sales of pure electric vehicles also surged 67% to 149227 vehicles; It is expected that the sales volume will roughly double this year. In addition, on February 23, Mercedes Benz released a specific plan to build its own operating system, MB.OS, which will be officially launched with the next generation of the new MMA pure electric platform. It is expected to be released in 2024 and fully put into the market in 2025.

　　In terms of BMW, its pure tram model delivered more than 215000 vehicles worldwide last year, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than double. Nowadays, BMW has taken on a "all out" attitude in electrification, and pure electric vehicles have become one of the main sources of sales growth.

　　BMW expects that its pure electric vehicle model will achieve a high double-digit growth this year, accounting for 15% of the total delivery volume. In 2024, this figure will rise to over 20%, and exceed 50% by 2030. From 2023 to 2024, BMW plans to launch the BMW i5, the BMW i5 station wagon, and the BMW iX2. Starting in the second half of 2025, BMW will launch a new generation of models, and within the next 24 months, at least 6 new generation models will achieve mass production.

　　"The development of electric vehicles needs to be profitable to continue, and if it cannot be profitable, it indicates that there is a significant strategic issue for the company." In an interview with media including China Economic Network, BMW Group Chairman Qi Puce said, "Although many emerging brands are rapidly increasing in volume, we have not lost market share."

　　"For the business development in 2023, Zipce is optimistic and believes that it will continue to benefit from strong market demand for its electric vehicles and high-end models.". Mercedes expects its total passenger car sales to remain at the same level as last year, while high-end luxury models will be slightly higher than last year's levels. After adjustment, the sales profit margin will reach 12% to 14%, with a slight increase in net pricing. Audi expects to deliver between 1.8 million and 1.9 million vehicles throughout the year, with sales revenue setting a new record of between 69 billion and 72 billion euros, operating profit margins of between 9% and 11%, and net cash flow of between 4.5 billion and 5.5 billion euros.