BMW reported a rise in 2021 profits due to its focus on selling higher-margin vehicles during the chip shortage.

• BMW's profit margin increased significantly due to its focus on producing more profitable models during a global shortage of semiconductor chips.
• Revenue increased significantly due to a 8.4% rise in vehicle deliveries from the previous year, which was impacted by the pandemic.
• BMW will reveal its complete outcomes and recommendations for 2022 at its annual conference next week.

Despite increased spending on research and development related to electric vehicles, German automaker reported all-time highs in revenue and net profit in 2021.

BMW reported a full-year net profit of 12.46 billion euros ($13.7 billion) and revenue of 111.24 billion euros ($122.4 billion) in a preview of its annual meeting next week, up from 3.86 billion euros in net profit and 97.4 billion euros in revenue in 2020.

Both profit and revenue notched records for the company.

Despite production disruptions due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips, BMW's annual revenue increased through increased sales of cars, SUVs, and motorcycles. The automaker's vehicle deliveries, including cars and SUVs, rose 8.4% from the previous year, to just over 2.5 million vehicles.

In 2021, approximately 13% of deliveries were electric vehicles, which were either plug-in hybrids or fully electric models. BMW Group sold over 328,000 electrified vehicles in 2021, a 70% increase from their 2020 sales. However, this is still significantly less than the total sales of EV leader, which was 936,000 in 2021.

By 2030, BMW aims to ensure that at least half of its global sales come from electric vehicles.

BMW's research and development spending increased by 10.7% to 6.3 billion euros, but it remained roughly consistent with 2020 when expressed as a percentage of revenue, about 6.2%.

BMW's profitability increased as the company prioritized production of its most profitable vehicle lines during the chip shortage, indicating a positive outlook for investors hoping the company can comfortably finance its transition to zero-emissions vehicles. The operating profit margin in BMW's automotive segment rose to 10.3% in 2021 from 2.7% in 2020 and 4.9% in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, BMW motorcycles experienced a 14.8% increase in sales, reaching approximately 194,000 units. Additionally, the motorcycle unit's operating profit margin improved from 4.5% in 2020 to 8.3%.

BMW's financial success in 2021, despite the volatile environment, demonstrates our ability to combine major investments with operational success, as stated by Nicolas Peter, equivalent to a U.S. company's CFO. We are optimistic about the future.

BMW announced that it will increase its annual dividend to 5.80 euros per share and launch a new share repurchase program at its upcoming annual meeting.

BMW has announced that it has agreed to purchase Alpina, a longtime builder of higher-performance versions of BMW cars. The Alpina brand will eventually become an in-house trim line for BMW, similar to the AMG brand at rival Mercedes-Benz.

BMW will reveal its full fourth-quarter and yearly results at its annual shareholder conference, which commences on March 16.