BMW speeds towards mostly electric cars by 2030
BMW is speeding into the electric car revolution, though not quite as fast as some of its rivals.
The German automaker projected on Wednesday (March 17) that at least half of its sales would be zero emission vehicles by 2030.
BMW said its MINI brand would be fully electric by the early 2030s.
It is, though, a more conservative target than some other carmakers in the race for cleaner driving.
Earlier this month, Sweden's Volvo said its whole lineup would be electric by 2030.
And German rival Volkswagen expects 70% of European sales at its core VW brand to be electric by 2030.
In the short-term, BMW forecasts it will see some recovery from the health crisis.
It sees a big year-on-year rise in pretax profit for this year, with a strong performance in all areas - from MINI to its upmarket BMW and Rolls-Royce brands.
BMW's optimism for the year ahead came on the same day industry data showed the car industry still faces a challenge to recover.
The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association said European car registrations fell sharply in February - down by 20.3% year-on-year.
BMW itself saw a drop of 13%, though that was better than many rivals.
Sales fell by a fifth at Mercedes-maker Daimler, while Renault saw a fall of almost 30%.
