BMW iX3: From «Swiss Car of the Year» to Bestseller – and now «Wertmeister 2026» too.
The BMW iX3 is collecting not just trophies but customers as well: in Switzerland, the first model of the Neue Klasse is already the BMW Group's most successful electric vehicle, and in the third quarter it was even the most registered model of all. Shortly afterwards, it was named «Wertmeister 2026» in Germany – together with the BMW 4 Series and the BMW 5 Series.
The iX3 leads BMW Group Switzerland
In January 2026, an expert jury named the BMW iX3 «Swiss Car of the Year 2026». Since its market launch in March, customers have confirmed that verdict: from January to September, the iX3 reached 1,242 new registrations, making it the BMW Group's most successful electric vehicle in Switzerland – ahead of the BMW iX1 with 1,131 units.
The third quarter is even clearer: with 684 units, the iX3 was the most registered model of the entire BMW Group Switzerland – ahead of the BMW X1 (575) and the BMW X3 (497). An electric SUV overtaking the in-house combustion bestsellers: a strong signal for the Neue Klasse.
Overall market: second place despite a decline
The Swiss car market grew by 2.7 percent to 173,537 new registrations in the first nine months. BMW Group Switzerland registered 16,414 vehicles (−12.9 percent), yet holds second place in the overall market and remains the country's largest premium manufacturer. The group's market share is 9.4 percent.
BMW: 13,926 units (−12.1 percent), market share 8.0 percent (−1.4 percentage points)
MINI: 2,488 units (−17.3 percent), market share 1.4 percent (−0.3 percentage points)
The most successful individual model over nine months remains the BMW X1 with 2,338 units, followed by the BMW X3 with 2,029 units. For MINI, BMW points to an exceptionally strong comparison period in the previous year.
Electrification: one in four vehicles is fully electric
While overall volumes fell by double digits, the electric share of the portfolio keeps growing:
BMW BEV: +22.1 percent to 3,213 units – third place among all BEV brands in Switzerland
BMW Group BEV total: +16.0 percent to 4,113 units
BEV share of the group's portfolio: 25.1 percent (+6.2 percentage points) – one in four new group vehicles is fully electric
Electrified (BEV + PHEV): 42.2 percent of all BMW Group registrations, well above the Swiss market average of 38.5 percent
Share of the BEV and PHEV segment: 10.4 percent – one in ten electrified new vehicles is a BMW or MINI
MINI: 36.2 percent of newly registered vehicles are fully electric
Plug-in hybrids look less rosy: BMW PHEVs dropped 14.1 percent to 2,802 units. The trend is clearly shifting towards pure EVs.
BMW Motorrad: the GS remains number 1
BMW Motorrad ranks third in the Swiss motorcycle market (+0.7 percent) with 2,616 new registrations (−6.8 percent), or 2,782 units including scooters. With a market share of 10.1 percent, one in ten new motorcycles (excluding scooters) in Switzerland is a BMW.
The R 1300 GS and R 1300 GS Adventure are once again Switzerland's best-selling model family with a combined 800 units. The F 900 R made a real leap: +87.5 percent to 255 units – almost doubling.
«Wertmeister 2026»: triple win for BMW
Just two days after the Swiss figures, the next award came from Munich. The trade magazine «Auto Bild» and vehicle valuation company Schwacke named the models with the best value retention in eleven classes – and BMW took three titles:
BMW iX3 – class «Compact to luxury SUV, electric»
BMW 4 Series – class «Mid-size» (first-time Wertmeister)
BMW 5 Series – class «Executive» (continuing a long success story)
The ranking is based on a Schwacke forecast of value retention over three years. Worth noting for Swiss readers: the award refers to the German car market. «Auto Bild» has presented the title annually since 2004.
For the iX3, the Wertmeister title adds to an already long list: since its premiere in 2025, it has been named «World Car of the Year» 2026 and «World Electric Vehicle» 2026, among others. Technically, the high-performance computer «Heart of Joy», the BMW Dynamic Performance Control driving stack and the new BMW Panoramic iDrive form the basis for all upcoming Neue Klasse models.
Outlook: the new BMW i3 arrives in 2026
As the second Neue Klasse model, BMW Group Switzerland will launch the all-electric BMW i3 sedan on the Swiss market before the end of this year:
BMW i3 40 xDrive: from CHF 67,100, range 566–710 km (WLTP), combined power consumption 17.9–14.3 kWh/100 km (WLTP), efficiency class A
BMW i3 50 xDrive: from CHF 73,300, range 729–912 km (WLTP), combined power consumption 18.0–13.4 kWh/100 km (WLTP), efficiency class A
Up to 912 kilometres of range in a premium sedan – the i3 should pick up exactly where the iX3 has just set the bar.
The BMW iX3 is more than a prestige project: in Q3 it outsold every other BMW Group model in Switzerland, it keeps winning jury awards, and it is now also rated as particularly value-stable. At the same time, the figures show that overall BMW and MINI volumes are under clear pressure – the business is increasingly carried by electric cars. With the i3, the next Neue Klasse hopeful follows before year-end.
Sources: BMW Group Switzerland, press release of 13 October 2026; BMW AG, press release of 15 October 2026.
Quellen: BMW Group Switzerland, Presse-Information vom 13. Oktober 2026; BMW AG, Presse-Information vom 15. Oktober 2026.
Meine Blog Artikel erstelle ich aus folgenden Quellen und Hilfsmittel:
Quellen: BMW Press Group, Google, Instagram, Erfahrungen aus dem Auto Gewerbe
Hilfsmittel: Für die Grammatik der Texte nutze ich Google Gemini und Claude
Comments