BMW proved that a car manufacturer does not have to market to the middle-priced and low-priced markets to sell millions of cars. As a matter of fact, the world’s luxury car leader sold more than 2 million last year.

According to company’s parent:

The BMW Group delivered more than two million vehicles to customers in 2014, the company’s fourth record year in a row. A total of 2,117,965 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were sold, more than ever before in the Group’s history (prev. yr. 1,963,798 / +7.9%). All of the company’s brands finished the year strongly with sales in December up 15.2% — a total of 215,217 vehicles were delivered in the last month of the year (prev. yr. 186,786).

As the company exited 2014, its results are such that 2015 has a chance to be another record year for BMW.

BMW Group’s primary division did better than the company as a whole in terms of improved sales:

2014 was the best year ever for the BMW brand. Deliveries of BMW vehicles totalled 1,811,719, an increase of 9.5% on the previous year (1,655,138). Sales in December also achieved a new high, up 14.2% on the same month last year (177,954 / prev. yr. 155,835).

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While the recession depressed overall car and light truck sales for several years, the momentum has become positive for the industry as a whole. BMW was no exception:

In Europe, a total of 913,803 BMW and MINI brand vehicles were delivered to customers (prev. yr. 858,990 / +6.4%). All European markets have experienced growth in 2014. The BMW Group’s home market, Germany, saw sales increase 1.7% across the year with 273,433 new vehicles registered (prev. yr. 268,838). Sales in the region’s second biggest market, Great Britain, grew 8.4% in 2014 (204,749 / prev. yr. 188,837) while a total of 67,449 BMW and MINI vehicles were delivered in France, an increase of 5.3% (prev. yr. 64,082).

As a general rule, substantial growth in China is essential for the future of most global manufacturers. The People’s Republic has passed the United States as the top car market in the world. BMW did well there last year:

Sales of BMW and MINI vehicles in Asia grew by 13.8% in 2014 with sales totalling 656,395 (prev. yr. 576,616). This level of sales growth was reflected in the December figures – deliveries in the last month of the year totalled 61,295 (prev. yr. 54,546 / +12.4%). The year saw sales in Mainland China grow by 16.7%, with a total of 455,979 BMW and MINI vehicles delivered to customers (prev. yr. 390,713). Strong sales growth was also experienced in South Korea, where 46,400 customer deliveries were made, an increase of 17.3% on the previous year (39,558).

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Auto sales growth in the United States drove 2014 total sales to a record for almost any single year. BMW rode that wave, although its growth rate was below that of the overall United States, where 2014 sales for all manufacturers rose 5.9% to 16,522,000:

Sales growth of 3.9% was recorded at year-end in the Americas (481,056 / prev. yr. 462,891). The USA was the region’s main growth driver in 2014, annual sales there were up 5.3% to total 395,850 (prev. yr. 375,782). Canada also saw positive growth of 1.2% (38,188 / prev. yr. 37,723) while sales in Mexico increased by 6.5% compared with the previous year (14,902 / prev. yr. 13,992).

Still, at the end of the year, sales of BMW and its primary competitor, Mercedes, were a photo finish.

BMW continues to have an advantage worldwide. It has few competitors at the highest end of the market, which means rivals will need to grow much more rapidly than BMW to catch it.

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