BMW aims to make its 100th year its best yet

BMW Group is aiming to mark its 100th birthday by recording its seventh record-breaking year on the trot.

After announcing that it crunched its previous sales, revenue and profit benchmarks again in 2015, the Munich-based company has this week tipped a slight rise in sales volume in 2016, despite what it describes as a volatile political and economic environment.

New car models such as the 7 Series and X1 will be among the drivers for this growth, BMW said.

For the first time, BMW’s net profit exceeded €6 billion in 2015, reaching €6.39 billion ($A9.04b) on the back of a 14.6 per cent jump in revenue – growth attributed largely to record motor vehicle sales under the company’s BMW and Mini brands.

Before tax, the profit was a record €9.59 billion ($A14.1b), up five per cent.

Announcing the results, BMW AG chairman Harald Krueger said the company had met all of its ambitious targets for the financial year.

“With another set of impressive figures in its centenary year, the BMW Group remains the world's leading provider of premium vehicles and mobility services,” he said.

For the first time, BMW Group car sales in Europe reached the one million mark, with Germany leading the charge on 286,098 vehicles.

Global BMW-badged car sales grew 5.2 per cent last year, to 1.9 million units, thanks to strong demands for models such as the new 2 Series, 4 Series and X family SUV range.

BMW’s electrified BMW i vehicles, the i3 and i8, gained significant traction last year when sales grew 66 per cent to 29,513 units.

Mini also claimed a new sales record, climbing 12 per cent to 338,466 units.

The company blamed “stiff headwinds” in China for a 6.8 per cent dip in Rolls-Royce sales, to 3785 units. However, that was still the upper-luxury brand’s second-best annual sales performance.

BMW motorcycle sales outpaced the general market with a 10.9 per cent jump, to 136,963 units, generating revenue of almost €2 billion.

Meanwhile, BMW’s supervisory board has announced that it will ask shareholders to elect Deutsche Lufthansa AG board member Simone Menne to the BMW board.