BMW Names New Boss to Guide It Through Industry Upheaval
New chief of America’s biggest auto exporter is set to face the challenge of keeping a business model built on globalization shielded from trade tensions
- Milan Nedeljković will become chairman of BMW’s management board, succeeding Oliver Zipse, as the company faces geopolitical tensions.
- BMW’s U.S. factory exported over half of its approximately 396,000 SUVs last year, making it America’s top auto exporter.
- BMW’s sales in China fell by 11% in the first nine months of 2025, totaling approximately 465,000 vehicles.
BMW BMW 0.29%increase; green up pointing triangle appointed Milan Nedeljković as its next chief, tapping a company veteran at a rocky time for the global auto industry.
The German company said Tuesday that the Serbian executive will become chairman of BMW’s management board—a role akin to chief executive officer in the U.S. —after its annual general meeting next May, succeeding Oliver Zipse.
Nedeljković will face the task of steering a business that thrived on globalization through a period of mounting geopolitical tensions, particularly between its two largest markets: the U.S. and China.
The growth of BMW’s production center in Spartanburg, S.C., has made it America’s top auto exporter. Last year the factory produced roughly 396,000 sport-utility vehicles, of which more than half were exported to the European Union, China and the U.K., among other markets.
Unlike most peers, it also owns the majority of its Chinese joint venture, BMW Brilliance. Zipse this year called BMW “one of our industry’s few true global players.”
Nedeljković joined BMW as a trainee in 1993 and has served as board member for production since 2019. In that role, he led a project with Nvidia to digitize the company’s factories, and was a key architect of BMW’s next generation of electric vehicles.
BMW production head has typically been a holding role for chiefs in waiting. Nedeljković will become the fourth leader in succession to make the same move.
The automaker’s management system is known for promoting insiders and eschewing drama in a well-oiled machine. BMW is controlled by the billionaire Quandt family, which owns roughly half the company and operates largely behind the scenes.
BMW’s business model, based on shipping goods between regions, came under pressure from President Trump’s tariffs earlier this year. In March, Zipse said the impact of new tariffs on the company’s annual profit could amount to more than $1 billion.
But a July deal between the White House and the EU included pledges to cut auto duties on both sides. The agreement positioned BMW as a relative winner in the trans-Atlantic trade war thanks to its U.S. export base, though the EU hasn’t yet implemented the change.
The highest tariffs BMW now pays are those imposed on the EVs it builds in China for the European market.
More recently, tensions between China and the West have taken the form of shortages of rare earths and Nexperia microchips, posing further challenges for automakers that rely heavily on the smooth operation of global supply chains.
“Being a global company is an advantage because it’s a natural protection,” said Zipse in September.
Nedeljković could spend much of his time focused on defending BMW against new Chinese rivals.
German brands have been steadily losing market share in China itself. In the first nine months of 2025, BMW sold roughly 465,000 vehicles in the country, 11% fewer than in the same period a year earlier. In October, the company cut its annual profit outlook citing weaker-than-expected sales in China, among other reasons.
Chinese EV brands such as BYD are increasingly taking market share in Europe too, though BMW’s European sales have been strong this year.
In September, BMW unveiled its new iX3 sport-utility vehicle, the first in a new generation of EVs that are designed in part to win back the Chinese market. The vehicle will reach the U.S. market next summer with a starting price of roughly $60,000 and an unusually long 400-mile range.
The iX3 has helped to revive hopes that Germany’s car industry can regain its reputation for innovation and pioneering technology after a period in which the U.S. and China have led critical developments in EVs and vehicle autonomy.
BMW’s stock, broadly unchanged Tuesday, is trading close to roughly 18-month highs. Investors are optimistic that the investment burden associated with its new EV generation has already peaked, with the fruits yet to come.