BMW Group announced on Wednesday that it plans to increase the share of fully electric vehicles in total sales to 15% this year, from a level of almost 10% in 2022, DPA and Reuters report.

The German carmaker sold 2.4 million cars last year, about 100,000 fewer than in 2021, a BMW spokesman said, amid strong demand for the i4, iX, iX1 and i7 electric models.

The BMW brand sold 2.1 million vehicles last year, down from a record 2.2 million in 2021, as restrictions imposed in China hurt production and inflation in Europe reduced demand, according to Agerpres.

Final 2022 sales results for the group, which owns the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, will be announced on January 10.

However, BMW has so far offset the decline in sales volumes with higher prices, posting a rise in profit in the third quarter of 2022.

“We are proud that the BMW brand remains number one in the premium segment globally,” the company announced, referring to rival Mercedes-Benz, which has taken the first place for several years.