German luxury automaker BMW today reported a 13.6% increase in 2010 group sales to 1.46 million vehicles and said it aimed to set a record of more than 1.5 million this year.
The 2010 figure represented BMW's second best result to date, a statement said, after 2007 sales of 1,500,678 cars.
On Friday, rival Daimler reported a 15% increase in 2010 sales of its Mercedes-Benz cars to almost 1.17 million. German rival Audi reported record 2010 sales of more than 1.09 million vehicles last week, thanks to a jump of 43% in China.
Germany remained the biggest market for BMW with 266,009 vehicles sold, a gain of 3.1%, followed by the US, up 9.9% to 265,757. China was third but gaining quickly, with sales leaping 86.7% to 168,998.
A breakdown of the numbers showed that in December alone, the BMW group, which includes the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, sold 141,358 cars, up 14.2% from December 2009. Daimler and Audi also said sales were particularly strong late last year.
