BMW expects half of its sales to be electric cars by 2030

REUTERS: BMW expects at least half of its sales to be zero emission vehicles by 2030, setting a more conservative target than some rivals in the race to embrace cleaner driving.

In the short term, the German carmaker forecast on Wednesday a big year-on-year rise in pretax profit for this year, with a strong performance in all areas - from MINIS through its upmarket BMW brand to top-of-the-range Rolls-Royces.

BMW said around 90per cent of its market categories would have fully-electric models available by 2023 and the electric BMW i4 would be launched three months ahead of schedule.

After a pandemic-hit 2020, Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said: "We have started the new year with strong momentum and are aiming to return to pre-crisis levels as swiftly as possible – and go even further."

BMW said its MINI brand would be fully electric "by the early 2030s" and electric models would account for at least 50per cent of group deliveries by 2030.

In an industry chasing electric carmaker Tesla's lead and facing tightening CO2 emissions standards in Europe and China, some automakers have outlined plans for faster change.

Sweden's Volvo said this month its lineup would be fully electric by 2030, and Ford said in February its lineup in Europe would be too.

And German rival Volkswagen has said it expects 70per cent of European sales at its core VW brand to be electric by 2030 and this week unveiled ambitious plans to expand in electric driving, boosting its shares.

For this year, BMW sees its operating profit (EBIT) margin rising to 6per cent-8per cent from 2.7per cent in 2020.

Bernstein analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said the company had entered 2021 "very confidently."

"In terms of electromobility, BMW is making good progress and is taking significantly fewer risks than VW," he said.

BMW shares were up 1.8per cent in early trading.

(Additional reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Christina Amann. Editing by Maria Sheahan and Mark Potter)