When, as a child in the 1980s, Chris Brownridge first admired his grandfather’s BMW saloon, the business of selling cars was a fairly straightforward exchange of cash for a vehicle. But when he joined the industry in the 1990s, it was in the middle of a wave of change. Readily available car finance suddenly meant the public could buy more expensive cars.

“It changed the type of car people bought,” says Brownridge, chief executive of BMW Group UK. Drivers could borrow to buy a pricier vehicle in the expectation that it would hold its value and could be sold on later.

Britons couldn’t get enough of it (low interest rates helped), and BMW rose to become the UK’s fourth-biggest seller of cars, despite the premium price tag of most of its models. And now the industry is facing an even bigger paradigm shift, with the transition to electric cars in full swing, and newer innovations such as connected and autonomous cars opening the door to different kinds of business.

“Things have changed a lot and are about to change significantly again,” says Brownridge, standing in BMW’s flagship showroom on London’s Park Lane. “I genuinely think we are on the edge of probably the most exciting time in the industry.”

Brownridge is a UK car industry lifer. He was born in Oxford – “close to the Mini factory”, which BMW now owns – but when he was small his family moved to Hong Kong so his engineer father could work on the city’s mass transit system.

“I’ve very fond memories of a very different culture,” Brownridge says. It was a very different world, with the UK ruling the city state until the handover in 1997. When Chris Patten, last governor of Hong Kong, left on the royal yacht Britannia with the then Prince Charles, it “was quite a sad moment, really”.

However, his family was always tied to the UK, and he returned for his secondary education. After university, the car industry was the obvious choice. “I am fascinated by anything with wheels,” he says. It felt “very natural” to start work with Land Rover, then under the Rover Group which was, in turn, owned by BMW. He worked in managing customer relationships and data at Mini, Rover and MG.

Brownridge rose through the BMW ranks via marketing roles, overseeing sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics (there’s a replica Olympic torch in the corner of the room), before taking charge of the Mini brand. He became UK chief executive in 2021, overseeing BMW’s fourth-largest market after China, the US and Germany.

Traditionally, carmakers would sell cars to dealers, and the dealers handled customer relationships, but now manufacturers increasingly sell direct to consumers online. Dealers are highly sensitive about suggestions of a changing business model – under which carmakers take more control of the customer relationship – and Brownridge is wary of giving details of what BMW is considering.

“Our long-term strategy is to work with our network of retailers,” he says, emphasising the “with”. However, he acknowledges that “how we transact” is being examined. “That’s something we need to work on with our partners, rather than inflict on them,” he says. “Because, ultimately, our success is mutual.”

Being more involved in the customer relationship will give carmakers more opportunities to make money throughout a vehicle’s life. Carmakers say they will also make their products more attractive.

Customers are not always happy about being asked to pay more after purchase, however. BMW suffered a flurry of incredulous news reports last autumn when it emerged that it was charging a £15 monthly fee to turn on heated seats. Brownridge says “some of the coverage that focused on the hardware aspect was overlooking the obvious opportunity” for software upgrades that can improve drivers’ experience.

But the most eye-catching change to the car industry is the shift to electric technology. BMW made one in every 10 battery-powered cars sold in the UK in 2022, and a fifth of its UK sales were battery electric – already putting it on track to meet the government’s mandate of 22% battery sales by 2024, which was confirmed last week after this interview took place. Carmakers will need to be selling 80% battery vehicles by 2030, and 100% by 2035.

BMW has not always been on board with the UK government’s plans. In 2020 it and other carmakers argued that a ban on internal combustion engines before 2040 would damage the British industry. Asked about that stance, Brownridge says the UK government’s plans are “ambitious” – not usually a compliment from executives – but achievable, for BMW at least, amid “very strong demand” for electric cars. “We’re ready,” he says. “We have the products. So we are able to respond.”

However, he adds that the government needs to ensure there is enough green energy available to power electric cars, and must put “more investment” into the UK’s charging network.

Brownridge says car buyers’ focus on sustainability will only increase, and will soon extend beyond the fuel powering their cars to how the cars are made. A focus on greener materials might give premium carmakers an edge (as their higher margins can soak up new costs). But the BMW boss cites a company visit to a coalmine west of Cologne in Germany as evidence for why green manufacturing will become increasingly important to carmakers.

The giant Hambach coalmine is bigger than central London in area, and Brownridge says a giant machine there scoops out enough coal every day to cover a football field to a height of almost 100 metres.

“You look at that and think, well, this can’t continue, because there’ll be nothing left,” he says. “Customer choice will be heavily influenced by their understanding of the same sustainability for the products. I think that’s quite exciting.”

CV

Age 48
Family Married to Ami for 23 years, with two children aged 20 and 17, plus a dog called Dennis.
Education RGS High Wycombe, then economics at Exeter University.
Pay “I’m not going to disclose that.”
Last holiday “We went to Lyme Regis, one of my favourite places. We rent a house that overlooks the sea. It’s like watching a fire, watching the sea. It’s beautiful.”
Best advice he’s been given “Listen to the people around you” and “be acutely aware of what affects the quality of your judgments and what impairs it”.
Phrase he overuses What is the problem you’re trying to solve? “I think in our business – in many businesses – people rush to use their knowledge and experience but sometimes miss what they’re trying to achieve.”
How he relaxes “I enjoy fiddling with old cars” – he owns a 1956 MGA – “and I love listening to music … from classical through to Kate Bush and the The.”