The company said it would propose a raise in its annual dividend from €2.6 to €2.9 at the firm’s annual meeting in mid-May. Rival Germany-based automaker Volkswagen announced this morning that it will propose a 20% increase in its annual dividend from €4.0 to €4.8 at its annual meeting, also scheduled for May.
BMW sold nearly 397,000 vehicles in the United States in 2014 to establish itself as the top-selling luxury car maker in the country.
The company’s new 2 Series sold more than 41,000 units worldwide, and the venerable 3 Series sold more than 480,000 units, compared with more than 500,000 in 2013. That drop was more than offset by sales of the 4 Series, which had worldwide sales of nearly 120,000 units in 2014, compared with just 15,000 in the prior year. Sales of the 5 Series also rose nearly 2% to 373,000 units. BMW said that its 3-, 4- and 5-Series cars were global leaders in their market segments.
BMW’s X5 crossover had a worldwide sales jump of 37% to more than 147,000 units, and the company’s i3 electric and i8 plug-in hybrid sold around 16,000 and 1,700 units, respectively.
The company’s Mini brand had slightly lower unit sales, and the Rolls-Royce segment sold more than 4,000 cars for the first time ever.
Vehicle sales in Europe rose 6.4% year-over-year, 13.8% in Asia and 4.0% in the Americas. Sales in mainland China rose 16.6% to more than 456,000 units.
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