BMW Posts Record Yearly Sales Becoming World’s Leading Premium Car Brand

The BMW M8 is seen during the media day of the 41st Bangkok International Motor Show after the Thai government eased measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 14, 2020. (Jorge Silva/File Photo/Reuters)

BMW posted robust yearly sales growth of 8.4 percent with a combined sales of 2.52 million vehicles delivered globally last year and doubling its sales of fully-electric cars, said a company report, positioning BMW as the top leading premium car brand worldwide.

The Munich-based auto manufacturer’s sales count included numbers from MINI and Rolls-Royce as well. BMW alone sold around 2.2 million vehicles, which is an increase of 9.1 percent compared to 2020, an all-time-high breaking pre-pandemic 2019’s record.

The sale of fully-electric vehicles climbed 133.2 percent to 103,855 units, with the company reporting 25 percent of total sales in home country Germany falling under electric. MINI Electric was the top-selling model in the MINI lineup.

The automaker was able to achieve the numbers despite supply chain constraints and pandemic-related shortcomings “thanks to a powerful operational performance and stellar product line-up,” according to the report published Wednesday.

“Our brands reported numerous all-time best sales results around the globe—spearheaded by the BMW brand, which is number one in the global premium segment,” said Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands, Sales.

“Want to continue profitable growth in 2022 and more than double sales of fully-electric vehicles again,” with an expansion of the current range of electric vehicles, Nota added.

Based on the report, 13 percent of all BMW and MINI vehicles sold worldwide in 2021 were electric, i.e. 328,316 units, which is over a 70 percent increase from 2020. In Europe, the percentage of electric cars sold was 23 percent.

After the launch of BMW iX and the BMW i4 in 2021, the company plans to expand the lineup with fully-electric versions of BMW X1 and BMW 7 Series this year, and BMW 5 Series in 2023, along with MINI Countryman and the Rolls-Royce Spectre.

BMW plans to sell around 10 million fully-electric vehicles over the next decade. “The MINI brand’s product range will be exclusively all-electric by the early 2030s, while Rolls-Royce will also be an all-electric brand from 2030 onwards. All future new models from BMW Motorrad in the field of urban mobility will be fully electric.”

With sales of 5,586 vehicles, luxury icon Rolls-Royce reported the highest sales in its 117-year history. Current orders extend into the third quarter of 2022, said the company.

As electric vehicle battery prices go up due to lithium shortages in the face of surging demand from global automakers, car companies are consolidating their supply of key materials and establishing domestic supply chains. Unlike the present, there have not been any price increases for materials like lithium-ion batteries during the last 10 years. The coming years will be revelatory in regards to logistical disruptions and material shortages for key manufacturers.

The Chinese market showed impressive numbers for the company. BMW sold 846,237 vehicles last year in the country, 366,574 in the United States, and 948,087 in Europe. There was an increase of almost 9 percent in China compared to 2020, while in Europe, it was 3.9 percent. The U.S. market, however, spiked almost 20 percent coming out of the pandemic.

BMW has a global sales network in more than 140 countries with 120,726 employees. In 2020, the company registered revenue of over $112 billion. Over the past six months, the company’s value has gone up more than 6 percent.