Good morning from Munich. I'm Nikolai Glies and standing in for Maximilian Schöberl. I may cordially welcome you to the conference call quarter statement as per 31st of March 2022. We have here Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, and Dr. Nicolas Peter, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG in charge of finance. The gentlemen will begin by giving you an overview of the business development, and after that, as always, you'll be given the opportunity to ask your questions. Dr. Peter has the floor to begin with. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. BMW Group is in an increasingly volatile geopolitical and global economic environment and has made a strong start to 2022. Our business is performing in line with our expectations. The ongoing war in Ukraine is affecting the availability of vehicle components, which led to brief production disruptions at several European plants during the Q1. Semiconductors also remain in short supply, and we expect the situation to ease at the earliest in the second half of 2022. In China, restrictions to combat the pandemic are affecting our local sales, production, and logistics. Our associates are working hard and highly flexibly to manage our supply chains so we can minimize the impact on the BMW Group as far as possible. As expected, compared to the strong Q1 of 2021, vehicle sales decreased by 7.8% in Europe and 9.2% in China in the first three months of this year. However, our US sales still grew by 3.7%. This shows that the BMW Group has an excellent competitive position and is highly diversified. In the current volatile environment, we are benefiting once again from our balanced footprint across all sales regions. Our consistent focus on emission-free mobility is also gaining further momentum. With the market launch of the BMW iX and the BMW i4 last year, we released two all-electric models on the roads that are in very high demand. In the Q1, the BMW Group sold a total of 35,289 all-electric vehicles, an increase of nearly 150% over the previous year. Two weeks ago, we unveiled the BMW i7, an all-electric luxury sedan that underlines our innovation leadership in electrification, digitalization, and autonomous driving. In 2022, the BMW iX1 will also expand our best product range. In the Q2, we will additionally launch the BMW i3, the first all-electric three series tailor-made for the Chinese market. Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have extended our contract with our Chinese joint venture, BBA, until 2040 and have increased our stake in BBA from 50 to 75%. With the conclusion of this transaction, BBA has now been fully consolidated in the BMW Group's financial statements since 11 February 2022, and therefore fully considered in all items pertaining to the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. This development is reflected in higher revenues and operating results in the automotive segment. The increase in the cost of sales also includes depreciation from the purchase price allocation, as well as further consolidation effects related to intra-group deliveries. The previously held equity interest of 50% in BBA was revalued to its current fair market value. This resulted in a positive one-time effect of EUR 7.66 billion in the Automotive segment's Q1 financial result. The net amount from consolidation of BBA's liquid funds less the purchase price amounts to EUR 5 billion and increases free cash flow in the Automotive segment in the Q1. Ladies and gentlemen, the BMW Group's financial figures for the quarter are therefore greatly impacted by the increased stake in BBA and the full consideration of the joint venture in the group financial statements. Group revenues for the first three months of the year climbed 16.3% to EUR 31.14 billion. The financial result includes the one-time effect of EUR 7.66 billion from the fair market valuation of the existing 50% stake held in BBA. This boosted group earnings before tax, which totaled at EUR 12.23 billion at the end of March, which resulted in an EBT margin of 39.2%. Without the revaluation of the existing stake and consolidation effects arising from BBA's full consolidation, the group EBT margin is at 18.4%. Bolstered by good performance, we continue to invest systematically and from a position of strength in the future competitiveness of our company. As previously announced, we are focusing on the electrification of our model lineup and on digitization, both of our vehicles and our business processes. Our research and development expenses according to IFRS, therefore, mainly in connection with new models, electrification and the digitalization of the vehicle fleet, as well as automated driving. R&D spending for the Q1 stood at EUR 1.57 billion and was therefore 9.4% higher year-on-year. The R&D ratio, according to German Commercial Code for the quarter, fell slightly to 4.5% owing to the strong increase in revenues. We expect the figure for the full year to be within our target range of 5%-5.5%. Our capital expenditure is focused on future mobility and was significantly higher year-on-year at EUR 1.1 billion. This represents a CapEx ratio of 3.5%. We expect the ratio for the full year to be close to our target figure of 5%. Ladies and gentlemen, let's now move on to the individual segments. In the automotive segment, the volume-related decrease in revenues was offset by strong operating performance. Segment revenues rose by 17.4% to over EUR 26.73 billion. A share of this increase is also due to the first time inclusion of BBA revenues as well as currency tailwinds. In addition, a favorable model mix and sustained good price realization due to our premium positioning are reflected in the revenue growth. Price increases in the markets helped partially to offset the increase in raw material and energy prices. Income from the resale of end-of-lease vehicles in the pre-owned car market also continued to develop positively. The cost of sales in the automotive segment increased by 20.9% to EUR 22.63 billion. This reflects costs for energy and raw materials, increased research and development spending, and the higher percentage of electrified vehicles. Effects from the initial consolidation of BBA amounting to around EUR 1.2 billion also contributed to the increase in the cost of sales. In addition to consolidation effects of approximately EUR 500 million in depreciation of the purchase price allocation, eliminations of intercompany profits amounting to approximately EUR 700 million were recorded. The segment achieved an EBIT of EUR 2.37 billion for the Q1, an increase of 5.9% over the same period last year. The EBIT margin came in at 8.9%. Excluding the consolidation effects mentioned above, the operating segment results would be around EUR 3.5 billion and the EBIT margin would be at 13.2%. This reflects the strength of our core segment in the Q1, particularly given the difficult business conditions. The financial results for the segment climbed to around EUR 8 billion in the Q1 of 2022, compared to just over EUR 500 million for the prior year quarter. This includes the one-time effect of EUR 7.66 billion from the revaluation of the existing 50% stake held in BBA that I referred to earlier. At the same time, due to the full consolidation, the at equity result in the Q1 decreased by EUR 170 million. The segment's free cash flow also reflects the full consolidation of BBA. As expected, the acquisition of BBA's liquid funds, less the purchase price, resulted in a net inflow of EUR 5 billion as expected. This was partially offset by changes in working capital since temporary suspensions of production resulted in a decrease in trade payables. The closure of dealerships in China due to lockdowns also led to a decrease in advance payments received from the dealer network. Free cash flow for the segment totaled EUR 4.82 billion. On this basis, we confirm our target for the year of at least EUR 12 billion. In the financial services segment, a total of 433,000 financing and leasing contracts were concluded with retail customers in the first three months of the year. The number of new contracts was down 11.4% compared to the very strong prior year quarter. In addition to the limited availability of new vehicles due to supply issues, this also reflects more intense competition in the financial services sector, particularly in China and the US. The strong product mix and pricing led to a higher average financing volume compared to the previous year. As a result, new business volume decreased by only 3.1%. Segment earnings before tax reached just over EUR 1 billion, a new all-time high in our Q1. The situation in pre-owned car markets around the world remains exceptionally positive and continues to contribute to high income from the release, from the resale of end-of-lease vehicles. Thanks to an attractive model lineup, the motorcycle segment was also able to maintain its sales growth. With more than 47,000 units sold, we once again reported double-digit growth and posted our best ever Q1 sales. The segment's operating earnings for the quarter totaled EUR 108 million with an EBIT margin of 13.5%. Ladies and gentlemen, with lower economic expectations, rising inflation, and high energy and raw material prices, we face growing uncertainties in our business environment. Despite these challenging conditions, the BMW Group made a strong start into 2022. Based on current information, we're able to confirm our guidance for the full year. Driven by the full consolidation of BBA, we expect to see a significant year-on-year increase in both group pre-tax earnings and employee numbers. In the automotive segment, despite supply bottlenecks and production downtimes in the Q1, we forecast that vehicle sales for the full year will be on par with last year. The percentage of electrified vehicles should also increase significantly, and the number of fully electric vehicles should more than double. We expect that the BEV share will be at least 10% of total sales volume. We are targeting a slight reduction in CO₂ emissions in the new vehicle fleet and CO₂ emissions per vehicle produced. We still expect the EBIT margin in the automotive segment to be within the range of 7%-9%. In the financial services segment, we can confirm our target range of 14%-17% for return on equity. In the motorcycle segment, we anticipate a slight increase in deliveries with an EBIT margin within our target range of 8%-10%. Our guidance assumes that the semiconductor supply situation will ease at the earliest in the second half of 2022. At the same time, we do not expect the limited availability of vehicle components due to the war in Ukraine to have a significant impact beyond the Q1. Further restrictions in connection with the corona pandemic in China are also not contained in this forecast. Ladies and gentlemen, despite geopolitical and global economic uncertainties, the BMW Group remains on track to meet its goal for the year. We're managing our supply chains proactively and are able to respond flexibly to changing circumstances. Demand for our products remains strong, with especially high new orders for our all-electric vehicles. We are investing in e-mobility and digitalization to secure the future sustainability of our company while maintaining our strong operating performance. That is how we are continuing to navigate the company carefully through turbulent waters and are in an excellent position for 2022. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Peter, and now over to Oliver Zipse. Ladies and gentlemen, strong products and desirable brands are the foundation of the BMW Group's success as a company. With our customer-centric portfolio, we have experienced very robust demand in recent years, despite the difficult circumstances. We are seeing this trend grow even more this year. Never before in the history of our company have our pre-orders been higher than they are today. The markets signal that this high demand will continue. Our order books are full several months out, especially for our fully electric vehicles, and in particular, our innovation drivers, the BMW i4 and the BMW iX. A few weeks ago, we unveiled another milestone in the expansion of our fully electric lineup, the BMW i7. I presented it in person to our retailers in the Americas and journalists in the U.S. The response from around the world has been tremendous. The new seven is tech magic at its best. It is the only luxury sedan to offer the full range of drive technologies as a BEV, fully electric, plug-in hybrid, or with modern combustion engines. Our customers choose whatever suits their needs best, and that without having to compromise. Over the coming months and years, this rapid pace will continue. The iX1 will be released late this year. This means one of our highest volume models in the premium compact class will also be available as a pure electric vehicle. Next year, we will be electrifying another core BMW brand product, the Five Series. This year, we will already have 8 fully electric models on the road with plenty more ready to go. Including preproduction vehicles, we will be building 15 fully electric models this year. This will give us a pure electric option in about 90% of our segments. The large number of new launches and strong demand for our products shows that we inspire people, we develop innovations that are successful in the marketplace, and we create desirability. All this is the basis for the growth we've planned for the coming years, not only in the purely electric vehicle segment, but across our entire product portfolio. We will continue to rely on an open technology approach in the future. It is the right concept for our customers worldwide right now and accounts for different developments in different regions of the world. This enables us to offer the latest, most climate-friendly drive technology for various needs and thus further increasing our contribution to a positive climate impact. This breadth of technology enables us to meet both the demands of our customers and the expectations of our stakeholders during the current phase of the transformation. Because this way, we are further optimizing all our technologies. We are transforming the BMW Group effectively and quickly. Our focus is on e-mobility, digitalization, and a holistic approach to sustainability. What sets us apart is we are performing while transforming. This is also shown by our strong Q1. As Dr. Nicolas Peter already told you, the figures for the first three months benefited from the full consolidation of our Chinese joint venture, BMW Brilliance Automotive. This was an important strategic move for us. It will strengthen our long-term cooperation with our partners in China. We're expanding production capacity at our existing locations in Shenyang, and this is how we continue to increase our local-for-local share. We are systematically increasing our resilience, and we are systematically increasing localization of other models, including new energy vehicles. As an example, we have the fully electric BMW three-series long version developed exclusively for the Chinese market. We also have a long-wheelbase version of the X5 that has been tailored to the unique needs of the Chinese customers. Both the electric three-series and the X5 long-wheelbase version are produced locally in China. This puts us in an even better position to meet strong demands for these two models. As a global company, the BMW Group operates at the intersection between different conditions in major regions of the world. The current picture could hardly be any more varied. A few weeks ago, I visited the US. We presented our products for the next two years to over 1,000 retailers from across the Americas. They were very impressed and are committed to invest billions in the future with us. The mood was truly positive and full of optimism. This is also reflected in the sales figures for the first three months of the year. We continued to grow on the American continent compared to the prior year quarter. This applies to the U.S. in particular, which posted growth of 3.7%, once again earning the BMW Group a leading position in this key market. We're able to respond flexibly to growing demand across the region from our plant in Spartanburg, our biggest in our global production network, as well as our other plants in San Luis Potosí in Mexico and Manaus and Araquari in Brazil. In absolute terms, as well as in percentage, this is the largest growth region of the BMW Group in 2021. Europe is overshadowed by the impact of the Ukraine crisis. Energy supplies across the continent have been jeopardized by the war and the resulting tensions with Russia. Inflation remains high, and the cost for food, energy, and fuel are rising. As a result, economic forecasts are constantly being revised downwards. The war in Ukraine is also significantly impacting the local automotive supplier industry and leading to production downtimes at our European plants. We have been working with our partners and leveraging our ability to respond quickly, our high level of flexibility and agile methods to make up component shortages as a result of the war as quickly as possible. We are still relying on supplies from Ukraine. This continues to give those employed by our local partners there a perspective for the future, also under these conditions. The supply situation has eased in the meantime, and we expect that we will be able to keep the situation stable. That brings me to our third main market. In China, the coronavirus pandemic is flaring up again. As a result, the metropolis of Shanghai is back in lockdown. Production facilities and ports have been closed to contain infections. Our plants in Dadong and Tiexi were also affected by temporary closures, but production there has resumed in the meantime. One issue the industry has been dealing with worldwide for the past year is the shortage of semiconductors. We don't expect to see an improvement until at least the second half of this year. We will still be dealing with an underlying shortage throughout 2023. To limit the effects of the shortage, we're exploiting the flexibility of our production network to the full, as we have done in the past. This enables us to reallocate production volumes at short notice. This way, we're responding to the supply situation with maximum efficiency. This is one strength of the BMW Group that has set us apart in a positive way in the past. We have also created flexibility in our main sales markets. Our three market regions are increasingly independent when it comes to sales, production, and the supplier network. The current differences in their situations show how important this approach is. It creates resilience because when the market situation is difficult in one region of the world, the markets carry us through in the other regions. This means that despite the different challenges of our times, we're always able to work towards the success of the company as a whole. The results for the Q1 2022 are proof of this. Strong demand for our products enabled us to strengthen our competitive position in the Q1 of 2022 and grow our global market share year-on-year despite the difficult circumstances. Bottlenecks in the supply of components and measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus in China are the reasons why we were not fully able to meet the high demand for BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce vehicles. While sales through February were still slightly higher than in the same period of the previous year, the development in March was mainly characterized by supply bottlenecks for wire harnesses from Ukraine. As a result of this, we saw a moderate decrease in deliveries between January and March 2022 compared to the all-time high of the previous year. Our sales of electrified vehicles increased significantly, climbing 28% to more than 89,000. During the same period, sales of fully electric vehicles more than doubled to over 35,000 units. The iX3 and the MINI SE were the most in-demand fully electric models. Sales were significantly higher than in the prior year quarter. The BMW iX and the BMW i4, which we presented last year, will be introduced in many more markets worldwide over the coming months, and the new i7 will also be in showrooms from November. All of this will accelerate sales growth even further. This puts us on track to more than double our sales of fully electric vehicles compared to last year. We aim to break through the sound barrier of a total of 2 million all-electric vehicles sold overall by 2025. By 2030, at least half of our global deliveries should come from BEVs, and we're doing everything we can to meet this goal earlier. 2025 will play a crucial part in this because that is when we will be launching our Neue Klasse. With its focus on electric, digital, and circular, it represents a quantum leap in technology. The Neue Klasse will also come with our new Gen6 drivetrain generation for the first time. With more output, new cell chemistry, and new cell formats, the Neue Klasse will give sales of fully electric vehicles a major boost. We are consistently pushing forward with expansion of e-mobility in line with growing demand. That is how we're responding to our customers' desire for emission-free mobility. At the same time, we're making sure we can achieve the strategic climate protection goals we have committed to, because it is especially important in challenging times not to lose sight of our long-term objectives. Our road to climate neutrality by 2050 follows a scientifically validated and transparent path through the entire value chain. In this way, we will be able to reduce our products' total carbon footprint throughout their lifecycle by 40% by 2030. And that's very important to me, we deliver on our promises. For example, in 2021, we once again overfulfilled our CO2 emission targets for the European Union, and all our drive technologies contributed to this. In addition to reducing CO2, the topics of raw material efficiency and circularity will play an increasingly important role. We showed with the BMW i Vision Circular last year what luxurious yet sustainable mobility in the urban environment might look like. The use of secondary materials will be a basic requirement on the road to creating closed material loops. That is why the BMW Group's approach is called Secondary First. We're consistently following this path. Our goal is to create the most sustainable supply chain in the entire automotive industry. The light alloy, the light alloy cast wheels for the new MINI Countryman are a very concrete result of this thinking. They're made of 70% secondary material. This enables us to avoid up to 80% of the CO2 emissions from production in this way. In addition to relying on secondary materials, we're also concentrating on utilizing raw materials in such a way that they can be fed back into the material loop after being used. The Neue Klasse will set new benchmarks for this. 50% of the raw materials used to build it will be recyclable. Circularity does not just represent the future from an environmental perspective. We're currently seeing quite clearly how this approach also plays an increasingly important role from an economic and geopolitical standpoint. Due to current events and the possibility of supply bottlenecks as a result, prices in the commodity markets are skyrocketing right now. Prices for many industrial and precious metals have reached all-time highs. Some of these are essential to technological change in the automotive industry, and especially the transition to e-mobility. We are currently discussing, quite rightly, how to reduce our dependence on fossil energy. At the same time, we have to be careful not to create new dependencies in other areas. For example, a battery alone contains several hundred kilos of raw materials, most of which do not come from Europe. Circularity is an approach that will greatly reduce dependence on primary raw materials in the long term. Until then, only technological diversification and the availability of alternatives will create resilience. This is why we're advocating, in this context, for an open technology approach with sustainable further development of all drive technologies, including support for hydrogen technology. Currently, we're seeing precisely this. This industry is really gaining momentum. Ladies and gentlemen, having to deal with the combined burden of major overlapping challenges, that is the new normal. The BMW Group has always responded to challenges with an effective operating performance by the entire company and a high level of flexibility. In this way, we have always guaranteed the commercial success of the company, even in challenging situations. In fact, we have emerged stronger than ever from many of these challenging times. You can rest assured that we will continue to manage the BMW Group in this spirit in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Zipse. Ladies and gentlemen, we now have time for your questions. I'd like to ask the colleagues to give the technical explanations for the conference. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, push the keys zero and one on your telephone. Your questions will be then taken in the order received. In order to withdraw a question, push the keys zero and two on your telephone. If you're listening over the loudspeaker, please ask your questions by picking up the receiver. Thank you. A moment for the first question, please. The first question is Markus Klausen, Der Aktionär. Good morning. Thanks for being given the opportunity. I've got three questions. First, supply of semiconductors. You mentioned, Mr. Peter, you're expecting improvements no earlier than in the Q2. That means next year you're also expecting significant restrictions. When do you think should that situation improve in a sustainable manner? Are you expecting this to happen next year? Second question, prices. You also mentioned those for new and second-hand cars. These prices have increased significantly. What's the current situation, and what do you expect for the next few months? Will the situation in terms of prices stabilize, or do you, in fact, expect dampening effects? Third question, the uncertainties with respect to your guidance in order to secure the margin goal for this year. Have you taken any countermeasures? Are you planning to take any to offset the ever-increasing costs and prices? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Klausen, for your questions. We'll begin with the semiconductor question. Mr. Zipse. Well, Mr. Klausen, if you look at the semiconductor industry, you need to state there is no such thing as the semiconductor industry. You need to distinguish with respect to the nodes they serve. There is the highly performing nodes of most recent generation between 2 and 12 nanometers, and we actually do not have any supply bottlenecks there. Then there's a major field all around 55 nanometers, and there continue to be supply bottlenecks here, but these are slowly being resolved because the first investments made are taking effect and the effectiveness of bringing them into the individual regions of the world is making progress. Then there's a very specific node of around 180 nanometers specific to the automotive industry, up to 600, and these are the semiconductors where larger currents can be processed, and the most recent semiconductor generation cannot cater for those. Here, we still have to make subsequent investments. There are various companies in the world who do that, but I guess it will take until next year until these become effective. But in all, what we can state is that, this will quiet down even if it has come, quite fiercely. Thank you, Mr. Zipse. Questions two and three, Mr. Peter. And Klausen, you first asked about the pricing situation. Let me, talk through the three regions that are relevant to us. First of all, United States. There, we continue to have a very good situation in terms of pricing, not just new cars, but also used cars. We have a pretty good level there. The development in Europe in the past few months, in the Q1, was also positive, and same applies to China, where we're on a pretty strong level. Now, to hedge the guidance of 7%-9%, that's actually normal to us. Our performance program will continue. We're focusing, as every year and every quarter, firstly on improving the output side, becoming more efficient, working our costs. In particular, we're looking very closely at our raw material price hedging and how we can further improve that, and we're continuously working on this and on corresponding measures. Thank you. Then next question, please. Next question is Marco Engemann, dpa-AFX. Good morning, and thank you. Hello from Frankfurt to Munich. I'd like to know, you briefly mentioned this earlier, the situation in China. You had to fight against, you know, there was problems with interruptions of productions in Shenyang. What's the situation at the suppliers and how, from your point of view, does the pandemic develop in the region of Shenyang in the next few months? Perhaps you could just give us a short outlook. Dr. Peter. Last time, I think it was, you said that you spoke about the effects of raw material prices and currencies and was a low three-digit million EUR amount. Is that a guidance you could still uphold? Then after what Mr. Klausen asked about the pricing prospect, I wanted to know, how about the second half of the year? You know, once the industry has picked up and is able to produce a little more, if the situation with the chips gets resolved, can we expect that the price development will stagnate or prices will go back in the second half of the year or do you have to give more discounts then? Thank you. Thank you. The first question, China, will be taken over by Mr. Zipse. Well, in the BBA joint venture, production after three weeks interruption in order to curb the pandemic, production is going according to plan in all three locations, Dadong, Tiexi and Jiading, and you will understand, health of our employees has top priority. But as I said, these plants are working normal again, and now we just have to keep observing the situation, especially in Shanghai. We'll have to see how things continue in Beijing and what the effects will be on our suppliers and, in fact, on the entire logistics chains, including the ports. There's some tension, but so far, this didn't mean that we would expect that anything would come to a standstill. It's very difficult to make a forecast here. We continue to introduce various measures in order to be able to reduce possible infections as well. Thank you. Dr. Peter, on raw materials and prices again. Well, let me begin with the first topic, the raw material prices. To say that much in as much energy and the prices will currently not have negative impact on our results because we have long-term contracts in place for raw materials and currencies. What I have said remains true. It will be a certain burden that we expect over the course of the year. This is simply due to the very good hedging level that we have, both on the raw material side and on the currency side. Your question about an outlook regarding prices in the second half of the year. Currently, in none of the geographic regions do we see that there would be a trend going any other direction. This is firstly due to the very good order book we have, and Mr. Zipse mentioned this. That applies to all three regions. On the other hand, we have a consistent and very good inventory management. We have reduced stocks considerably within our retail organization, and that's also something that has positive influence on price enforcement. Third point, stabilization. I'd say I'd expect that to happen towards the end of the year, but we're really observing this very closely. We're looking at the development quarter by quarter. Thank you. Next question, please. Wilfried Eckl-Dorna, Bloomberg News. Hello, good morning. Two brief questions. I'd like to know, Volkswagen recently said that they are completely sold out 2022 with their e-cars. Is this situation at BMW similar? You said earlier that, you have very high pre-orders for e-cars. I'd like to know, are you fully, sold out? And my second question, price increases, you're forwarding those to the customers, or is that something you're doing? And will that happen in all of the segments that you're serving, in all types of cars? Will that happen to the same extent, or do you distinguish, for example, such that you also try to offer smaller and less expensive cars and not increase the prices for those so much so that you would then increase the prices for the more expensive cars more? Maybe you could briefly explain. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Eckl-Dorna. We'll begin by Mr. Zipse. On the e-cars. Well, I'd already explained this in my speech. We have a very, very full order book for our electrified vehicles, by the way, not only those, the others as well, and we're serving a global market. Being able to supply very strongly depends on the individual markets. We're very happy about the orders received, and we are working in order to meet those. Dr. Peter, on the question of price increases. Well, first of all, I think it's important if you talk about price increases to simply also look back a little. We communicated that due to production and various bottlenecks, our sales decreased by 6%. At the same time, at the high end of our portfolio, we have more or less remained stable. In fact, we even managed to slightly increase our share from 10% to 11%, which is a pretty good indicator also for a strong price enforcement we had. At the same time, we also managed, in particular, with the fully electrified vehicles, to increase their share in sales from about 11% to 15%. The share in fully electric vehicles was increased by 150%. Of course, we're not going all over all of this with a lawnmower saying, "Four cars, the same in all markets." We are taking into account the life cycle, we're taking into account situation in the individual markets. The order book is considered, and this is how we arrive at a very differentiated approach when it comes to pricing, which also makes sure that the prices can be enforced in respective markets. Thank you. Next question, please. Marco Tassel, Handelsblatt. Good morning, gentlemen. I have two questions or sets of questions. The first relates to China. European Union Chamber of Commerce in China drew a pretty bleak picture of the situation in China today. 40% of Chinese performance is under lockdown at the moment, the entire economy, and there are a lot of companies who lose their trust in the Chinese corona politics, and they're reducing their investments. Therefore, two questions. Number one, how far do you place trust in the Chinese corona politics? Do you think that their measures can help to get everything under control? Or do you begin having doubts as to what they are doing actually works so that the country can come to terms with the situation? That was my first question. Second question in that respect, you are facing EUR billions of investments in China. Does it really make sense to keep up that pace, or do you perhaps consider extending that further into the future? That would been my first question. Then the second set of questions, that relates to the deal with Qualcomm that you recently announced. I'd like to know what are the details about this deal? Mercedes struck a similar deal with NVIDIA. Therefore, my question, is that comparable? Because they also agreed on a revenue sharing, where NVIDIA will participate in the revenues from those, functions. My question, do you have a similar deal? And will Qualcomm also participate in your revenues once you have introduced automated driving? Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for the questions. They will both be answered by Mr. Zipse. Well, good morning, Mr. Tassel. Good morning, community. Well, China, it's like this. Let's go two years back. We also had a major lockdown in China, and after that, a very strong Q2. It's now very difficult to make a forecast as to how long all of this will take. We continue to trust in our own commitment in China. It is very broad. We have a lot of development activity going on there. We are launching the X5, which will be produced not only in the US, but also in China, and everything else would be speculation. As I said, let's recall two years ago, situation was very similar, and now let's see how things will develop. Much on your first question. Second question, Qualcomm. Well, BMW Group Arriver on Qualcomm. Qualcomm bought Arriver with the competencies for autonomous driving, and we cooperate in the development of the next generation of software for assisted driving and automated driving, so SAE level two and three and so forth. This is not a supply relationship, but it is a joint development relationship where BMW contributes its software competence. From our point of view, this is truly unique in the industry that two players, an OEM and a software and hardware developer, join forces and enter into a cooperation. Part of this joint software development across generations for future functions includes application software and the software architecture and also the safety concept, the software development environment. It's not just a data center. It goes far beyond that, far beyond what has ever been done in that field. We both share a philosophy regarding the safety of the driver and the passenger and all other people in traffic, and all of this has top priority. Without that, no development project with BMW would be possible. Both companies contribute their entire experience from the past and the competence of the current developments, and as I said, it is a joint project. What's behind it, of course, is an entirely new ecosystem. Well, you cannot compare it to any other corporations. I actually don't wanna make any such comparisons. These are my answers. Thank you, Mr. Zipse. Next question, please. Stefan König, Börsen-Zeitung. Good morning. Two questions. One is about the operating margin in the core business, return on sales. If you subtract all the consolidation effects, Mr. Peter, in the Q1, you made more than 30% in the Q1. Other competitors obtained much higher margins. How do you explain the difference? Why is BMW somewhat weaker in that field? Does BMW have a cost problem? That's the first point. Then my second point, liquidity, cash. It decreased by more than EUR 10 billion compared to Q1 2021. What are the reasons for this? Is that the consolidation effect as well? Thank you, Mr. König. These will both be answered by Dr. Peter. Well, first of all, I think 13.2% is a pretty good performance. You know very well that we report our China business somewhat differently than other competitors do. I recommend that you just make a corresponding comparison. Cost problem, definitely not. That said, we're working quite consistently or have been working for many years quite consistently on coming to terms with costs. At the same time, and I think this is rightly so, I mentioned that we're investing more in research and development. It's important to do that in order for example, to launch the Neue Klasse in 2025, in order to develop the next generation of battery technology, as Mr. Zipse has mentioned. In order to enter into cooperations like the one with Qualcomm, and we're doing all of this in a very focused manner, and all of these are investments which we deem necessary in order to maintain our competitiveness in the future. Liquidity has increased compared to the previous year. We had EUR 20.3 billion. Now we are at EUR 24.7 billion. This includes BBA, and it underlines, I think, our very strong liquidity position, which is also reflected in the second-best credit rating that we have, the second-best of the entire automotive industry worldwide. One point, please. Liquidity, I'm looking at cash and cash equivalents. Q1 2021, EUR 15 billion, a bit more, and now Q1 2022, three billion. Maybe I'm not comparing the right figures here, or I'm looking at your balance sheet. I propose that we'll show you that afterwards. Our cash positive position has really developed very positively. Thank you, Dr. Peter. Next question, please. Christina Aman. Good morning to Munich. I've got two questions. The first one relates to supply bottlenecks. Zipse, in your speech, you said you have to reduce dependency. At the same time, you don't want to create any new dependencies. Well, supply bottlenecks with other raw materials, are there any others apart from semiconductors? How good is your supply with nickel, aluminum, and other, raw materials that are needed for e-mobility? How about gas supply? Would BMW be ready for a stop of gas supplies from Russia? Then a second question on BEV. What do you think of the idea of separating the BEV business and the combustion engine business in order to give BEV business more opportunity for, to grow? Good morning, Ms. Aman. Thank you for your two questions. They will both be answered by Mr. Zipse. Well, raw materials, especially these days, everybody talks about them, and it's of major importance. Basically, this underlies, it underlines our demand for circularity. This is something that's become our motto long before the current crisis. Semiconductors are not raw materials, they are industrial products. Behind every industrial product, there are raw materials. It's very important that you do not have a one-sided product policy in order to become too dependent on others. Out of, you know, for example, out of five possible drive technologies, to just focus on one, that would create a new form of dependency, and it would reduce the resilience that you could have. That's the point I wanted to make. Quite specifically speaking, the most important and valuable component in an e-vehicle is the battery. We have between, I mean, two, between 200 and 400 kilograms of raw materials, which would then obviously cause some form of dependency. Nonetheless, we believe that the BEV business will develop very quickly, independently of whether I would split that up or not. That has nothing to do with it. In 2030 at the latest, half of BMW business worldwide will be made with purely electric vehicles. Now, making an assumption that only five years later there would be 100% BEV in the world, I mean, that leads precisely to this dependency against we are explicitly warning. You're replacing one dependency with another. This is why openness to all technologies is so important here in order to be able to grow in the long term. Now in relation to the last latter part of your question, we don't really have any problems with raw materials. Yes, we do see price increases in some categories, but we've hedged against some of those. We've made hedging deals. To us, we can still handle all of this, and we have no interruptions in production as we see in the semiconductor business. Thank you. I'm checking the time. We still have time for two questions. Next question, Mirko Reitz, Platow. Good morning. I'm happy that I still get a turn. I have two questions. Touching on what you just said, Mr. Zipse, hedging against raw material, and energy prices, this will also become more expensive. When will that be reflected in your figures? And second question, perhaps to Mr. Peter, if you like. The BBA consolidation increases profit and free cash flow. Could you give us an idea what will happen with this additional money? I know it's a little too early to talk about the dividend, but would that be a possibility that you could prepare for? Good morning. Thanks for the questions. They'll both be answered by Mr. Peter. Well, to begin with, we have a hedging strategy for currencies and raw materials that always considers a three-year period. Most of the hedging will be made in the next 12 months, and then this will gradually decrease. Currently, both for raw materials and currencies, we're doing this. We always use the right moments, the right opportunities in order to also set up hedging for future periods. Second question, you already answered that yourself. We'll talk about it when it comes to that, which means next year. But you do not have any specific use for those additional funds that you obtained? Well, you know, as I just mentioned, securing our business always has top priority. We invest because of the very good demand for fully electric vehicles. We invest into expansion of that production of E-modules. For example, we will invest in considerable amounts in research and development for the aforementioned reasons. More than 50% will go into topics that are relevant for the future. We do have use for the money at the same time. I mean, we've got the annual general meeting next week, and, I mean, paying out a good dividend for 2021 is probably a thing as well. We are really quite circumspect when it comes to how we use the available funds. Thank you. Now the last question, please. Tim Higgins, The Wall Street Journal. Thank you. Good morning. Two questions. First, can you tell us apart from. Well, beyond the one-off effect of China, the Brilliance. Beyond that, what long-term effect will this increased share or participation in China have for your profitability in the future? Second question is related to investment. How do you now assess the global situation? Due to our interest in the U.S. become stronger due to volatility in other countries, what specific plans does BMW have in the next 12-24 months in the United States? Do you want to invest there? Thank you. We'll start with the second question. The U.S. Oliver Zipse. Well, from a global perspective, what I can say is, Mr. Higgins, BMW is a global manufacturer who acts in three major regions, which each have their own meaning or importance. I already said the Americas, that's anything between Alaska and Argentina, and they had more growth also in terms of percentage, also in absolute figures, they created more growth than China, which is a super large country, which just goes to show which importance the U.S. has to us in that context. We have a product initiative running there, the i7, but its other drive technologies has great importance there, and it's very well received. We've got the XM, which will go into series production this year in Spartanburg. This will be produced there for the world market, but the US play a particularly important role there. To us, this has the same importance as the European market or the Chinese market. I would forecast that the importance will probably even increase, especially because they are very open to technology, and we are taking that into account. There's also a lot being done towards climate protection, reduction of CO2 in the US, and of course, we can follow that very well with our own strategy. Tim Higgins, that's of course an important question that you've asked. This is Nicolas Peter speaking. We already mentioned in the next 6 years, we'll see negative effects from the purchase price allocation of around EUR 1.5 billion per year. That's a purely technical effect. It doesn't change anything about the profitability and the margin of the company. Now, after those 6 years, everything else remaining the same, then we'd see an improvement of our margin of 1%-1.5% per year. Okay. We have reached the end of our Q1 call. Thank you for all those who have joined us today, and thanks for your questions. Have a nice day and goodbye from Munich. Thanks for participating. The conference is over. Please hang up.