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BMW set a new record for sales in 2007, with group revenues up by 14.3 per cent over 2006 to €56,018 million.

BMW said it sold record numbers of cars, with overall sales rising by 9.2 per cent to just over 1.5 million. Of this, BMW branded cars totalled 1,276,793, an increase of 7.7 per cent ansd Mini sales were up 18.5 per cent to 222,875 units. Rolls-Royce Motors sold more than 1,000 cars in a year for the first time.

The group sold 335,840 BMW and Mini cars in the US in 2007, a rise of 7.1 per cent. The US is BMW's largest single market and BMW is the single largest European brand selling in the US.

Chairman Norbert Reithofer said that then group was aiming for record sales from all three brands in 2008. "We expect a new record sales volume figure in 2008, with stronger growth in the first half of the year and more moderate growth in the second," he said.

Reithofer made no announcements about possible job cuts that have been rumoured for BMW, which has come under pressure from shareholders to improve margins. The group increased its total number of employees marginally in 2007, mainly because of the acquisition of Husqvarna Motorcycles.

Reithofer said the group was working to improve profitability. "These targets, sales and profitability, are both of paramount importance for the future of the BMW Group," he said.